Nothing
by PossimpiblyPossimpible
Summary: Lily Evans and James Potter are out of Hogwarts. They're both living separate lives and keeping up a steady friendship but what happens when that shatters? Another threat looms in the corner as peace reigns in Wizarding London - barely. Rated T. AU
1. Chapter 1: Making Dreams Happen

**PLOT SUMMARY: What if James Potter was yet again UNSUCCESSFUL in asking the ever beautiful Lily Evans into going out with him in his last chance? What if their Hogwarts career was already over and all they were able to develop was a friendship? What if that friendship got shattered? All I'm saying is, James is losing hope in his pursuit for Miss Lily Evans.**

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><p><strong>AN:** Hey guys! It's Liloony here again. This idea just came onto me and I just _had_ to write it down. I was listening to the song Nothing by The Script and badabing badaboom badabang, I got the idea. I did a lot of thought into this one so I hope you guys like it. By the way, this is an AU.

**AU Pointers for this Story:**

1.) **NO VOLDEMORT**, he remains as Tom Riddle and is now working as a salesman in Honeydukes. (I know, he is the complete opposite of Voldy since he is the _sweetest* _man in Hogsmeade and won the Most Charming Smile award in Witch Weekly) He never thought of ever being Voldemort because he accepts the fact this his dad is a muggle. Or maybe, he'll change his mind? Just kidding! :D  
>*notice the pun?<p>

2.) **There are other things for the AU, but I will be introducing it later on, it'll spoil the story if I tell you now.**

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><p><strong>So after I say, "Disclaimer: J.K. owns, J.K. owns" I now present,<strong>

**NOTHING**

**Chapter One: Making Dreams Happen  
><strong>by: Liloony12

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><p>Wizard hats were soaring into the air. The students were cheering happily and catching their hats, crying and hugging each other. One particular group of rather quite handsome seventeen year olds (except for a small blonde one), were trying to put on fireworks.<p>

"Come on, Moony." The most handsome of all with long rather elegant black with grey eyes said. The boy with mousy brown hair, Moony, was scratching his head.

"I don't get it, Padfoot." He said thoughtfully while raising his wand. "This is Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start No Heat Fireworks but I already did the Aguamenti charm on it but it won't work."

"Maybe you need to hit all of them." Padfoot said. The bespectacled one with messy jet black hair and bright hazel eyes frowned.

"Where did you get these, Wormtail?" He asked the short blonde boy. The boy tensed.

"I told you, Prongs. I bought it in Zonko's." Wormtail said, "Nothing ever goes wrong with Zonko's."

"Apparently, that quote is wrong, Pete." Padfoot growled at him.

"I'm sorry, Sirius." Pete said. Moony patted his back.

"It's okay, Peter." Moony said. "We could graduate without fireworks."

"But Remus!" Peter whined, "I wanted the famous Marauders to leave with a _bang_ not quietly with tears in their eyes."

"It's all the same Pete," Prongs said, "We still _are_ going to leave with tears in our eyes. Imagine, us being separated after seven long years. That'll be hard on us."

"Yes, yes, James, very touching but Miss Lily Evans told us- no, _ordered_ us to set fireworks." Sirius said. "Imagine what would happen when we messed up with a simple task when after all those great pranks we never messed up in those. Evans'll kill us."

"Shh, Lily's coming." James said and smiled at the beautiful red head that was coming towards them.

"Well? What's the hold up, James?" She asked her now former partner in Head duties.

"Well, you see Lily, the fireworks won't start. We tried everything but it won't work." James answered as Lily studied the fireworks.

"What charm did you use?" She asked as she studied the fireworks.

"The Aguamenti charm." Remus answered.

"Erm," Lily said standing up and picking up the fireworks and tilted it a bit. "Here's your problem, it's expired." She pointed to white letters that said, '_Expires On: February 15, 1977_'. She sighed. "I hope you have extras." James turned to Sirius.

"Do we?" He asked. Sirius shrugged. Sighing again, Lily turned to the Staff Table, Lily caught sight of Dumbledore. He gave her a meaningful look and smiled slightly. Lily gasped.

"Oh, right! We're supposed to give our speeches now, James." Lily grabbed his arm, James' eyes grew wide.

"What?" He exclaimed.

"Our speeches; come on!" Lily said hurrying off. "See you later, guys!" She called to the rest of James' group. Seeing both of them coming toward the stage, Dumbledore stood up and cleared his throat. Still, no one stopped talking. Suddenly a loud bang erupted around the Hall.

"Oi! Listen to Professor Dumbledore, will you?" Sirius called out. A few girls giggled. Everyone finally shut up.

"Thank you, Mister Black." Dumbledore said with an amused twinkle in his eye. Sirius bowed. Lily and James arrived and smiled at Dumbledore. He gestured to them. "Students, your Head Boy and Girl are now here to deliver their speeches. Give them a big hand." Everyone clapped hard and Sirius wolf-whistled. James gestured to Lily to go first. She looked at him nervously and nodded. He leaned in and whispered.

"Don't worry, I'm here." He said. Lily blushed and stepped forward to the podium.

"Good morning, everyone. Of course, all of you know who I am, Lily Evans, Head Girl, and The Girl Who Had Twelve Outstanding N.E.W.T.S." A few people chuckled and Lily continued. "I know most of the speeches by past Heads are on saying goodbye and the like but mine will be about raising our chins up high. This last year was a big challenge. What with the N.E.W.T.S exams breathing down our necks but we've finally made it. We're finally standing here, in our graduation robes and our diplomas in hand. It's our biggest achievement yet. Graduating from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the best Wizarding School you'll find in the world," she turned to smile at Hagrid who grinned back, "is our biggest achievement. All those painstaking headaches, all those crazy hair pulling, those vigorous writing 4 feet essays, all those things were worth it." She raised her diploma. "This is what we get back. This is our ticket to the new world, the outside world – as we used to call it in first year." She grinned. "Of course all of us will be missing the train rides, the Hogsmeade visits, the fun nights in the dorms, the _Quidditch matches_!" The others roared. Lily laughed. "But we have new experiences to see, new experiences to feel, new experiences to partake in. So, guys hold your heads up high, puff out your chest and shout to the world "I GRADUATED FROM HOGWARTS!" Come on, say it with me."

"I GRADUATED FROM HOGWARTS!" The students roared. Lily grinned, "That, my dear fellow graduates, is the phrase we'll be saying proudly forever and ever." Lily bowed and everyone clapped hard. "Now, give a big hand for my little Head Boy. James Potter, everyone!" Everyone cheered for their famous Head Boy/ Quidditch star/ Eligible Bachelor. James grinned.

"Thanks, Lily. Well, Lily-flower's ("Don't call me that!") speech was all about holding your chin up high, _my _speech will be about the past experiences. I'll be dwelling in the past for the duration of this speech, okay? So, in first year, we were all shy and timid at first. When the Sorting happened, it was the scariest moment of our lives. I remember Peter wetting himself in fright when Professor McGonagall called his name for Sorting." Everyone laughed. Peter blushed as red as the Gryffindor colors. "That was when we meet the people who would become our friends, our family. They became the people who would be there for us for the seven years of our stay here. In second year, we were still adjusting a bit and then our pranks started. Those were our glory days, the first year of our reign in Hogwarts." James grinned to himself reminiscently, "That was also the time Lily here started hating me." Everyone chuckled. "The next few years were fun, the funniest ever. We became so famous we had our own fan girls." A lot of girls squealed. "Then in our fourth year, I decided to ask Lily to be my girlfriend. The look on her face was priceless!"

"And the hex I did on you was priceless too." Lily interrupted. "You were in the Hospital Wing for weeks." Everyone laughed. James stuck his tongue out.

"Very mature, Potter." Lily muttered, rolling her eyes.

"_Anyway_, as Flower pointed out, I was in the Hospital Wing for weeks. But still I didn't learn my lesson and in fifth year, Lily announced that I was her enemy for life. Apparently, she was wrong." James grinned and wrapped his arm around her in a friendly gesture but let go immediately. "At that year, Remus, Sirius, Peter, and I finally found the perfect name for our nameless gang, The Marauders!" He raised his wand in the air and made lights burst out of it and so did the other Marauders. As if right on cue, the faulty fireworks finally flew into the air and looked like the best firework display too. James continued. "The only bad thing about fifth year was O.W.L.S. It was like N.E.W.T.S with much easier difficulty than compared with N.E.W.T.S but I must confess I found it quite an easy breeze. The D.A.D.A exam day was also the day I made my worst mistake. Snivellus – I mean, _Severus_, I'm sorry for what I had done." Everybody was quiet but Snape just stood there, rooted to the spot. Lily sent him a glare mingled with a hurt look. She would never forget what he did to her. James continued, "Then sixth year, rebellion stage. More pranks with even more destruction in the wake. That was also the year we learned to fall in love."

"_AWWWEEEE!_" Everyone chorused.

"Who could forget the famous couples, such as Sirius and Rachel, Marlene and Robbie, and of course, the best of them all, ALICE AND FRANK!"

Everyone cheered as they watched Alice and Frank blush deep red.

James laughed, "Who could forget the Marauders best prank ever? Who could forget when everyone was drunk for weeks after the said prank? Who could forget the big brawl between the Marauders and rival group, the Mega Boys! But still, they disbanded in the end because they couldn't match the Marauders total awesomeness. And then, seventh year, the biggest shock of our lives – or more so, Lily's life. I, James Harold Potter, leader of the Marauders and Chief Troublemaker, was appointed Head Boy! Some of us swore that Professor Dumbledore was – forgive me Professor – was off his rocker to appoint me as Head Boy. Then again, Lily's reaction was priceless!" Everyone laughed at the memory of their Head Girl having a screaming fit all through the ride to Hogwarts.

"Even though she hated it, we had to share one dormitory, and that was the year, Miss Lily-Hates-James-Potter Evans finally became a friend of mine. But now, looking back at all the past experiences, I can't help but feel my heart sink." James' voice started to crack and he wiped his eyes. "Friends that we have now grown to love and become our large extended family, we might not see them again." James wiped his eyes behind his glasses. Everyone started crying again too. Lily's tears ran down her cheeks. "But nothing could replace them," James continued, "Nothing can replace them. They already have a large spot in our hearts." He gestured to his chest. He turned to the teachers "To our very patient teachers, thank you so much for being patient. I remember when Professor McGonagall saying after a really nasty prank that we were the worst batch ever." James smiled. McGonagall wiped a tear in her eye and smiled one of her rare genuine smiles at James. "But even so, you never lost your patience with us. You acted as our second parents with Hogwarts as our second home." James couldn't hold back his tears. He had to wipe his eyes repeatedly to continue. "To our dear friends and classmates, thanks for everything. And please keep in touch. To Hogwarts, we'll miss you and your magical glory, your protection, and your secret passages." James smiled. "But no matter, we'll always remember our dear Alma Mater and it will always be in our hearts. Thank you." Everyone clapped hard as James finished his speech. Sirius wolf-whistled and more fireworks went up in the air. Dumbledore stood up and smiled at them all.

"Now, if you'd like, you should sing your batch song." He said, the students nodded. They scrambled up the stage and formed four horizontal lines, like a how a choir would form. With a wave of Dumbledore's wand the instruments started to play. Lily went over to where Rachel Morrigan was standing, tears in their eyes. They hugged but said nothing as the song was about to start.

"_Where are we going?  
>We're leaving this life.<br>Where are we going?  
>We're saying goodbye.<em>

_All through these years  
>we've had each other.<br>We're onto the future  
>we'll have to carry on.<em>

_Do you remember  
>the times we shared?<br>Smiles with each other  
>and tears we shed.<em>

_All through these years  
>we've grown much stronger<br>Heads held up higher  
>higher than…<em>

_But the sky's not the limit,  
>we've reached farther than that.<br>Stars getting closer to where we're at.  
>Stumbled and scarred,<br>on this path we're on,  
>Reaching for that star.<em>

_Someday, somehow we'll be better,  
>making a difference,<br>beating the odds.  
>Showing the world what we've got.<br>Showing the world who we are._

_You'll never know  
>what the future holds.<br>When things like these happen  
>don't lose hope<em>

'_Cause the sky's not the limit  
>we've reached farther than that<br>Stars getting closer to where we're at  
>Stumbled and scarred<br>On this path we're on  
>Reaching for that star<em>

_Someday, somehow we'll be better  
>making a difference,<br>beating the odds.  
>Showing the world what we've got.<br>Showing the world who we are.  
>Making dreams happen.<br>Making dreams happen."_

Not able to hold it in any longer, Lily hugged Rachel again. Everyone cried halfway through singing the song.

"Rachel!" she cried. "That was the most beautiful song I've ever heard and sung."

"Naw, it was nothing, Lily." Rachel said through her tears. Lily pulled back and turned to the crowd.

"Making Dreams Happen, ladies and gentlemen! The song was written by our very own Rachel Morrigan!" She shouted. Everyone clapped while wiping their tears.

"Thanks guys." She said. Sirius came over and had a very serious look on his face. He pulled her into one big bear hug. Rachel burst into tears and hugged him harder. Sirius pulled back and kissed her full in the lips. Everyone roared and a few wolf-whistled. Lily laughed and clapped. They pulled apart but still hugged each other, tears running down their face. James came over to Lily and wrapped his arm around her. Lily smiled tearfully as she replayed the song in her head. She closed her emerald green eyes in happiness and smiled to herself.

"I can't believe it's over." Lily said dazedly to herself. "It's all over."

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><p><strong>AN: **Thanks for reading guys! The song Nothing by the Script will come in a few chapters.

Some parts of James' speech were part of the Valedictory Speech by the coolest male Valedictorian in the world. His name is Al, by the way. Special thanks to Al for letting me borrow his small gang, the Mega Boys, actually spelled like this, "Mega Boiz". In my brother's high school graduation, Al mentioned in his speech that a teacher called them the "Worst Batch Ever" and we laughed our heads off. My brothers second year was supposed to be their rebellion stage but I decided since Lily and the others were only twelve at the time, I made it sixth year.

Making Dreams Happen was my brothers batch song too. He still has the piece of paper they used to practice for their graduation. It was written by a classmate of his whose name I forgot. All I know is, he may be fat but he could sing like it was the end of the world. Thanks to whoever wrote it for letting me use the song.

By the way, please read my other fanfiction by the name of "**Tribute to Lily; Remember Her?**". It doesn't follow the storyline I've planned for this fanfiction.

Anyway, tell me what you think, and please please review guys!

With Love,  
>Liloony12 xoxo<p> 


	2. Chapter 2: The Great Shock

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own most of the characters in here, though Rachel Morrigan, Lily's mum and dad, Momo, and Hermione _are_ mine. The rest are J.K. Rowling's!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Two: The Great Shock<strong>  
>by: Liloony12<p>

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><p>A month passed from that very memorable graduation and Lily was sitting on her windowsill. She held a book in one hand, a mug of coffee in one hand, her wand tucked behind her ear, and on her lap was a purple pillow. She had bought a flat in Fulham since she <em>was <em>old enough to be alone. She also had magical enchantments to prevent burglars from entering.

Her room was neat and tidy. Her four poster bed was smooth and had no wrinkles. A poster of the new Wizard band, The Weird Sisters, was on the wall. An assortment of make-up and hair pins was on the table in front of the mirror. Beside her bed, phonograph records were stacked in a neat pile beside the gramophone player which was playing '_American Pie_' by Don McLean. Right next to the windowsill where Lily was sitting was a large bookcase where novels were categorized by author's names like Agatha Christie, J.R.R. Tolkien, and C.S. Lewis. A basket with a pillow was where Lily's ginger female cat, Lady Momo Momema Meowford the Amazing Ginger Kitten of the Century, was sleeping soundly in.

Lily stared out at the fine Sunday morning waiting for her Ural owl, Hermione, to bring a letter from her parents.

Sundays were Lily's day offs from her work in the _Daily Prophet_ as a Columnist but has a very low salary. She is looking for a job, of course, and checked in the Classified Ads section once in a while for good enough jobs to apply in. Lily was hoping to see a job that she would have an advantage in. Since she _was _top in Charms class, Lily sought for a job in the Ministry. Still, no luck was found as she kept to flipping through pages in the _Daily Prophet_.

Lily turned back to her book and forced herself to be engulfed in the plot. She was reading a battered copy of '_The Voyage of the Dawn Treader_' by C.S. Lewis, one of Lily's favorite Muggle novels. She was just getting to the part where Eustace became a dragon when her stomach growled. Setting the book down, she hurried out of her bedroom and into the kitchen. With a wave of her wand, cornflakes and a carton of milk flew out of a cupboard and settled down on the table. After she grabbed a bowl and a spoon, Lily poured the cornflakes and milk into the bowl and started eating.

A small knock was heard from the window. She looked up and saw an owl with a copy of the _Daily Prophet _tied to its leg. She let it in and gave it one Knut from her pocket. It set off and Lily opened the newspaper. The headline was, '_Potter Does It Again and Gives Puddlemere United another Victory_'. Lily smiled as she watched James' picture waving furiously at her whilst on a broom. Her little Head Boy was now a star Chaser for Puddlemere United. After reading the article she turned to the Classified Ads. After another spoonful of cornflakes, Lily heard a soft _crack_. She turned on her seat and saw Rachel grinning at her in her Healer uniform.

"Rachel?" said Lily dumbfounded, "What're you doing in here?"

"Oh, I'm just passing by before going to St. Mungo's," said Rachel and sat down beside Lily, "I saw the _Daily Prophet _this morning and James-"

"Yes, I know, Rachel," said Lily and gestured to the _Daily Prophet _in her hands, "My ickle Head boy is a big boy now." She added while brushing a fake tear from her eyes.

"Yes, and my ickle boyfriend is nowhere near growing up," said Rachel exasperatedly.

"How's Sirius?" Lily asked absentmindedly.

"Oh, he's fine," said Rachel, "Being in Puddlemere is getting to his head. He's been getting too drunk lately that I need him to be kept in check every few minutes."

"You're acting like his mum." Lily pointed out. Rachel rolled her eyes.

"You know how he is, Lils, and I don't even have to say it!" said Rachel.

"Well, drinking _is _his habit," said Lily. Rachel looked offended.

"He's only eighteen, Lils!" she cried, "You know how much alcohol can damage the liver. I'm telling you, when he's going to be old, he'll have liver problems." Lily considered this.

"Well, you aren't a Seer, Rachel," said Lily jokingly but stopped laughing because of the look on her face, "I'll try and talk to him, I promise." Rachel nodded.

"You have the day off, right?" she asked. Lily nodded as she stood up opened a cupboard full of butterbeer and took two. "We could be going somewhere by now but I have work." Rachel sighed.

"It's okay, Rachel," said Lily and offering her a butterbeer which she took.

"Thanks," said Rachel, "Cheers." Their bottles clinked and they drank the warm drink. Lily set her bottle down and said,

"I'll be at Alice's anyway; I'll be helping her plan the wedding. Just come whenever you're done with work. We need ideas for the theme." Rachel grinned and drank her butterbeer.

"I'll be there," she said as she stood up. She was about to Apparate when she stopped. "By the way, who are the bridesmaids?"

"I don't know," said Lily. "I'm guessing it would be you, me, Mary, or Marlene." They laughed. Another soft knock on the window interrupted them. Rachel opened it and the owl went in.

"Hermione!" Lily grinned as she untied the letter.

"Who's the letter from?" Rachel asked curiously.

"It's from my mum," said Lily and opened the envelope. The grin on her face sagged and turned into a stunned expression when she finished reading. Tears started falling down her cheeks. Rachel noticed this and grabbed the letter. Lily sank down on the chair as Rachel read quietly.

'_Dear Lily,_

_ How are you there on your flat? I hope your fine._

_ I hope this doesn't come as a shock and you'd come rampaging down to the house and leave your job but I have news to tell you. Remember when I kept complaining about how my chest hurts all the time? Well, dad told me to have a checkup with the doctor and I was so shocked. Petunia had a sobbing fit when she heard and dad was there comforting both of us._

_ Oh, Lily, the bad news is, I have stage two breast cancer. Please don't fuss about me so much, this is nothing. Just pray for me, okay?_

_ Be a good girl and stay safe okay, dear?_

_ I love you._

_ Love,_

_ Mum_'

Rachel was speechless. She watched Lily sobbing into her hands and had a surge of pity took over her. She set the letter down and hugged her best friend.

"Oh, Lily," said Rachel through her tears, "I'm so sorry." Rachel hugged her tightly.

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><p>(Lily's point of view)<p>

I don't know what to do anymore. What do I do? Rachel had already left for work after comforting me a bit. But still I wasn't comforted. I lie down there on my bed staring at the ceiling with tears still running down my face. '_My mother has cancer, my mother has cancer_' was the only thing in my head. I don't know what to do. After a few hours of sobbing, Alice Littlebury, Mary MacDonald, and Marlene McCrory had Apparated in.

"Lily!" Mary squealed through her tears and hugged me. Marlene was speechless as she sat at the foot of my bed. Alice was making me a cup of tea and sniffed very audibly. The three of them had already met mum due to the numerous summer visits. They always liked mum. It was very nice to have them there and talk for a while. Alice stepped inside the room with a tray of tea. She handed each of us one and gave mine last.

"Thanks, Alice," I mumbled hoarsely. Was that my voice? I didn't remember it being hoarse in the morning. Maybe it's because of screaming into my pillow too much. Alice smiled tearfully at me. I remembered something. "Alice, aren't you supposed to be organizing a wedding?" I asked as I took a sip of tea. Ah, how hot tea can make wonders.

"Oh, we can do that later," said Alice, waving her hand and sitting down on beside Marlene. "You need comforting and we're here for you." Alice smiled at me comfortingly.

"Thanks," I tried to smile but it turned into a grimace. Mary was clutching the letter and Marlene was reading it beside her. I was quietly crying as I sipped my tea. After a while, Marlene spoke up.

"You could talk to us, Lily," said Marlene, "You could tell us how you feel about… about all this." Mary was still staring at the letter while sipping her own cup of tea. Suddenly at the thought of the letter, a lump rose in my throat.

"I-I don't really want to talk about it," I said, my voice shaking and I looked away. I watched out the window and saw the sun high up in the sky. It was already noon. But I didn't care. I just want to sleep and forget all about this. I want to think everything is a nightmare. My heart ached and tears started falling again.

"This isn't true." I whispered to myself with my eyes closed shut. I can't handle this. I love my mother so much; she can't leave me like this. I opened my eyes and watched the small digital clock on my bedside table. It flashed the numbers "12:00". My eyes flew to my friends who were watching me silently with concerned looks. I cleared my throat.

"Did you guys eat lunch?" I mumbled. Mary smiled.

"It's fine, Lils. We're-"

"_Did you guys eat lunch_?" I repeated. Sensing there was nothing to change my mind, they shook their heads. I stood up and led them to the dining table. It felt like the floor was dissolving with every step I took but I ignored this since I knew better.

"Sit," I told them and they followed. "I'll whip something up." I said and left.

"Baked potatoes, chicken and ham pie, and salad." I muttered to myself as I took out my wand. With a flick of it, the potatoes flew out of a cupboard and knives began chopping the potatoes. I opened a book that was on a shelf right above the sink entitled '_One Minute Feasts; It's Magic!_' and flipped the pages to the recipe for baked potatoes. After an hour, everything was ready and I levitated the dishes to the dining table.

"I'm sorry this took long," I mumbled to them.

"It's fine, Lils," said Marlene reassuringly.

"Yeah, I'm sure what you cooked up would be delicious." Mary grinned. I only answered them with a small and sent plates, knives, and forks zooming to them with a small wave of my wand. We ate in silence. The three of them kept glancing at me like I was going to burst into tears. After a few minutes, I spoke up.

"Er – Do you think I should go home?" I asked them. "I mean home with my mum and dad?"

"If you want to, Lily," said Alice, "you could." Marlene nodded in agreement.

"Right," said Marlene, "you could spend more time with your mother." The lump rose in my throat again. A few tears escaped my eyes at the thought of my mother. Alice and Mary set her a glare.

"Way to go, Marlene," said Mary exasperatedly. Lily shook her head and wiped her eyes.

"N-no, it's okay, guys," I said, my voice shook. "I'm going home after I clean the dishes."

"Oh, I'll do it, Lily," Mary offered. "You should write a letter to your mum that you're going home."

"Thanks, Mary." I smiled feebly up at her. After a few more bites, we finished eating and Mary stacked the plates with a wave of her wand. She went off to the kitchen without another word.

"Um, could you guys help me pack?" I said gloomily.

"Oh, yeah, I'll set up a few more protection enchantments for the flat." Marlene suggested. I nodded. Marlene hurried off and took out her wand and started saying incantations. We opened the door to my room and started taking clothes out. We only took out my pajamas, a few underwear and a few other clothes I needed. I also took out my hairbrush, a few pieces of make-up, and a clip. After stacking them on my bed, Alice spoke up.

"Where will we put these things in?" asked Alice, "Of course you wouldn't want to bring your trunk with you, would you?" I shook my head and rummaged in my closet for my small purple handbag. I took out my wand and did a non-verbal Undetectable Extension Charm on it.

"Here, I'll use this," I said and started putting clothes in by stacks. After a few minutes, we finished packing. "Thanks for helping, Alice."

"No problem, Lily," Alice smiled at me. "Anything for a friend." I smiled at her and took out my wand from my back pocket. I pointed it at my old school trunk where I kept my parchment, quills, ink bottles, and other school supplies in.

"_Accio _parchment, quill, and inkbottle." I said. The trunk flew open and a piece of parchment, my eagle feather quill and my emerald green ink inkbottle came zooming into my hands. I set them down on my desk and started writing.

'_Dear Mum,_

_ I'm coming home. I want to spend the rest of my time with you there. Don't worry I'm not leaving my job at the _Daily Prophet_. _

_I'd probably be arriving in a few minutes; I still need to put protective enchantments around the flat. I'm sending this with Hermione but I'll be over soon. Mary, Alice, and Marlene are coming with me there. They'll be staying only for a few minutes. _

_Don't tell me to stay here at my flat because nothing will stop me from staying there. Tell Tuney I said 'Hi.' But don't tell her I'm staying over, she'll go berserk. She'll only figure it out when I arrive. _

_See you soon. I love you._

_Love,_

_Lily_'

I rolled the letter up and put the quill and inkbottle into the bag with a few more bits of parchment. I grabbed the letter and went over to Hermione's cage.

"Here, Hermione," I said while tying the letter to her feet with a piece of string. "Send it to mum, just stay there; I'll be over in a few minutes." I told her and she looked at me like she understood. She nipped my finger affectionately and flew off through the open window. I grabbed Momo's basket and the cat purred. Momo looked at me through its green eyes. Arabella Figg, a friend of mum's from Wisteria Walk, had sold the cat to mum and told us that Momo was part-Kneazle and she was highly intelligent. Momo was my thirteenth birthday present.

"We're going to mum's for a while, Momo." I told her. Momo purred in understanding. I turned back to Alice who was clutching my purple handbag. I smiled at her and we went out to the living room. Marlene and Mary were there waiting.

"Floo powder or Apparation?" Mary asked.

"Apparation," I said. "I ran out of Floo powder."

"Here, Lily," said Alice and handed me the handbag.

"Oh, yeah, thanks." I said. "Okay let's go."

We Apparated out.

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><p><strong>AN: **Okay this was a bit dull. Well, I had the idea about cancer because of my aunt and it'll cause something for the story.

I know I'm pretty original with Hermione but Hermione means messenger so I thought that it was perfect.

Thanks for reading and tell me what you think!

**REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!**

Thanks,

Liloony12 xoxo

**Lily Evans, Mary MacDonald, Alice, Marlene, Sirius Black, and James Potter (c) J.K. Rowling**


	3. Chapter 3: Get Your Priorities Straight

**A/N: **Hey guys! Liloony here again! I dropped the '12' in Liloony12 so now I'm only Liloony. :D Sorry that I really don't update much but I promise, I'm working hard but I hardly get to touch the computer these days.

**Disclaimer: J.K. OWNS, J.K. OWNS**

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><p><strong>Chapter Three: Get Your Priorities Straight<br>**by: Liloony

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><p>With one resounding <em>crack <em>like a gunshot, the four Apparated into the Evans' backyard in Oxshott, Surrey. Lily hesitated in using the Tube instead of Apparating but she just passed the Apparation test. And they're _witches _that could _appear_ out of _nowhere_. She likes Apparating; yes, even if she wants to hurl afterwards. But _anyway_, Mrs. Evans looked out the second story window, looking a little bit jumpy since she was afraid of guns and firing arms but as she surveyed the garden, relief washed out on her slightly lined features and broke into a smile.

"Lily!" her muffled voice came from the window, "Tarkie! Tarquin dear, they're here!" Lily grinned as they heard footsteps running down the steps. Mrs. Evans was always happy to see Lily, and she didn't know why. On the other hand, Petunia never wanted her here. Of course, she always hated her ever since Lily went off to Hogwarts but it was so irritating when she'd act all rudely in her presence. For Merlin's sake, she was Lily's sister! The elder sister, mind you. A bang erupted as Mum and Dad opens the backyard door and grins at their youngest daughter.

"Mum!" Lily cried and hugged her. Tears started to form in her eyes as she sunk her face deeper into her dirty blonde hair. Something to prove Petunia and Lily were different was their hair colors. She looked pale and deranged horse-like under locks of light blonde hair (_so _unlike Mrs. Evans') and Lily had bright piercing green eyes under her dark red wavy hair, like Mr. Evans.

'_Didn't we have a deal on the way to Surrey?_' Lily told herself, '_You're not going to cry. You're going to be a big girl for Mum the rest of the stay, Lilian._' She wiped the tears quickly and pulled back to grin at her mother. Mrs. Evans smiles and pats her cheek, reminiscent of how she used to that when Lily was a small kid.

"Nice to see you, Lily dear," said Mrs. Evans. Lily let go and hugged Mr. Evans

"Hey, Dad," said Lily into her father's chest.

"Hello, darling," said Mr. Evans. A small sob was heard coming from the direction of Mrs. Evans, but it was just Mary sobbing into Mrs. Evans' shoulders.

"There, there, Mary," said Mrs. Evans who looked taken aback, "You don't have to cry like this."

"But Mrs. Evans!" Mary cried. Mrs. Evans stroked Mary's honeysuckle hair and grinned at the other girls who hovered awkwardly at the background.

Mary was quite close to Mrs. Evans ever since Lily brought her home for Christmas holiday in first year. Mrs. Evans was like Mary's second mother and Mrs. MacDonald was Mrs. Evans' best friend. After a few more hugs from Alice and Marlene to Mrs. Evans, they all went inside and had a cup of tea. It was exceptionally quiet. A very rare feat here.

"Mum, where's Petunia?" Lily asked nonchalantly.

"Oh, she's with Vernon," said Mrs. Evans. She sipped her tea and peered at Lily from the top of her cup. "Remember that boy she brought here in summer last year?"

"Oh," said Lily irritably. Vernon Dursley was a fat papa whale ready to make baby whales with her sister. When he first visited, Lily really thought Petunia was joking but she had her convinced when she would look at him with her eyes all gooey. Worst of all, he's inheriting a boring little drill company from his dad. Lily never liked him that much. He thinks of Lily as an abomination for no actual reason; he just does whatever Petunia does.

"So, as you know," Lily began, "I'll be staying over for… who knows how long."

"That's fine, dear," said Mrs. Evans quietly, "You could have your old room and Alice, Marlene, and Mary could stay in the guest rooms."

"Oh, it's fine Mrs. Evans," Alice waved her off. "I need to get back to Frank and plan the wedding."

"But you've been at it for months, Alice dear, you deserve a rest. I insist," said Mrs. Evans.

"Erm – I guess so. But we wouldn't want to disturb, and your… condition," muttered Alice Marlene and Mary nod in agreement.

"Oh, it's nothing, dears," said Mrs. Evans offhandedly, "It's just for one night and you could tell Frank, Alice, that you're taking one night off from the preparations." Alice glanced at Lily helplessly.

"Yes, Mrs. Evans," she said in defeat.

"Great!" said Mrs. Evans excitedly and grabbed the muffin platter, "Would you like a muffin?"

Lily stared at the muffins and cracked a wide smile. James Potter had always asked in _every_ feast in Hogwarts, '_Could you pass the muffins, Evans?' _or '_Would you like a muffin, Evans?_' or '_Will you go out with me, Evans?_' and it used to annoy Lily a lot but now, looking back, it was amusing at how James used to ask Lily with wide eyes and a small blush on his cheeks. It was really cute. And then he would go and ruffle his hair _yet again_ and Lily would be brought back to reality and ignore him completely.

"_To think of it, why _do _I hate that ruffling thing?_" Lily whispered to herself. She recalled all the past experiences with the hair and remembered having visions of her doing it herself. "_No, no, stop! No ruffling James Potter's hair," _she used to think. Now it all just seemed amusing.

_But his hair _is _cute, _Lily thought, _and his hazel eyes. No, shut up. You haven't seen him for a month now, you can't think like this, okay Lilian? Wait, isn't Lilian what he used to call me in first year? Arrgh, I have to stop this. I have to-_

"Lily? Lily? Hey, Lily?"

"Oh, what?" Lily snapped back into reality.

"I was asking you if you could give the girls some clothes to sleep in," said Mrs. Evans, eyeing her daughter carefully.

"Oh? Oh, yes," Lily stammered and got up, "I'll go get some. I'll just put my other stuff in the wardrobe too, while I'm there." She grabbed her purple handbag, Momo's basket, and Hermione's cage and sped off and up the stairs. She turned right and found her door. She opened it quietly and ran inside, closing the door quickly in the process. Lily faced the room and sank down on the door. She was dazed and hyperventilating. She wrapped her arms around her knees and stared at her bright and open window. It was sunset.

"_You __**cannot **__think of James like that, Lily,_" She muttered to herself, "_both of you are just friends, no romantic feelings whatsoever. Just now that he got over you and dates a zillion girls, now you fall in love with him? He'll think you're selfish. Wait, did I just say "__**love**__"? No, you do not love him; actually you don't have feelings for him. You're merely friends. And Mum needs you; this isn't the time to act like that. Be there for Mum first…_"

It took a while for Lily to unscramble her scrambled thoughts. She picked up her purple handbag and Hermione's cage. She put both on the desk and put her head out the window. There was a tall mahogany that stood right out the window. Lily used to play there and climb the branches when she was a kid.

"Hermione, come in, your cage is ready," Lily called out. A brown Ural owl burst out of the leaves of the tree. Lily stepped back as her owl sped in and perched herself on top of the cage. Lily opened the latch and Hermione flew in.

"I'll let you out at night, okay?" Lily told her quietly. Hermione hooted and sipped her water bottle. Momo jumped out of her basket and crisscrossed in Lily's legs. Lily giggled and picked her ginger cat up.

"Hello, there, Momo," she said. Green eyes and catty green eyes looked at each other, "you know how ticklish that is." Lily set her down on her purple bed and went over to the wardrobe. She started packing things into her wardrobe and taking some pajamas out. She went out the door, followed closely by Momo, who jumped off the bed.

"Can't you stay in one place at once?" said Lily quietly. The cat bounded off the steps and roamed the house. Lily stepped into the dining room and handed the pajamas.

"There. We all have same sizes so it'll fit you," said Lily as she put her tea cup to her lips.

Later that night, Lily couldn't sleep at all. She was having mental images of her mother dying and hugging James Potter. She slapped her face and rolled over on her bed to look out the window.

"I need to get my priorities straight," she muttered to herself.

It was a cool, pitch black night with stars in the sky. The leaves of the mahogany outside were rustling and dancing with the wind. It was peaceful and quiet outside, unlike Lily's mind right now. Her eyes were blood red from crying and her hair was tangled in a bushy red hay stack. Her eyes roamed around her room and fell on her piano. Getting up quietly, she crossed the room barefooted to the piano. She ran her hand on the keys lightly. She used to play the piano all the time.

Lily sat down on the bench and summoned her wand. After a quick whispered _Silencio_ on the door, she set down her wand and eased her fingers on the piano. She took a deep breath and started tapping the keys rhythmically.

She played a kind of happy piece by Carole King that she really loved ever since she heard it on her eleventh birthday. She closed her eyes and lost herself in the happy melody. After the intro she started singing quietly,

"_You've got to get up every morning__  
><em>_With a smile on your face__  
><em>_And show the world__  
><em>_All the love in your heart_

_Then people gonna treat you better  
><em>_You're gonna find, yes you will  
><em>_That you're beautiful as you feel_

_Waiting at the station with a workday wind blowing  
><em>_I've got nothing to do but watch the passers-by  
><em>_Mirrored in their faces I see frustration growing  
><em>_And they don't see it showing, why do I?_

_You've got to get up every morning  
><em>_With a smile on your face  
><em>_And show the world  
><em>_All the love in your heart_

_Then people gonna treat you better  
><em>_You're gonna find, yes you will  
><em>_That you're beautiful as you feel_

_I have often asked myself the reason for the sadness  
><em>_In a world where tears are just a lullaby  
><em>_If there's any answer, maybe love can end the madness  
><em>_Maybe not, oh, but we can only try_

_You've got to get up every morning  
><em>_With a smile on your face  
><em>_And show the world  
><em>_All the love in your heart_

_Then people gonna treat you better  
><em>_You're gonna find, yes you will  
><em>_That you're beautiful, you're beautiful  
><em>_You're beautiful as you feel"_

Lily sucked in a deep breath and exhaled. She opened her eyes and the red in her eyes were still there, bringing her back to the present and into depression. Not even the piano could help her for a long amount of time. She stood up, the bench scraping wooden floor under it and went collapsing into bed to brood even more.

"I hope you'll live longer, Mum," said Lily to the ceiling, "I need your advice, Mum. I need you with me all the time. Don't go."

And with that, she closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep.

**A/N: **So that was Chapter Three! Just a bit of a filler chapter. The main plot will arise in a few chapters and yes, James will arrive in a bit.

The song up there is Beautiful by Carole King. All rights belong to her and her record labels.

And something unHarry Potter, DID YOU SEE THAT CASEY ABRAMS GOT ELIMINATED OFF AMERICAN IDOL! I was like, NO WAY! THAT IS NOT HAPPENING!  
>God I was so devastated! He was the only guy I actually thought that had a good jazz voice. And I LOVE a good jazz voice. So now, my only reason to watch AI is Haley.<p>

_Anyway_, hope you guys review! Thanks.

With sweetest love,  
>Liloony xoxoxox<p>

P.S.: I LOVE CASEY ABRAMS! HE ROCKS!


	4. Chapter 4: It's Back To Potter, Is It?

**A/N: **Hey, guys! Liloony here again! Hope you'll enjoy this one.

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT FOR SOME OC'S. THE REST IS J.K.'S!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Four: It's Back To Potter, Is It?<br>**by: Liloony

"_Hello?" I heard myself say. I was standing on a stage with one spot light glaring at me. There was no other sound except for some jazz music that sounded very distant. _

_Footsteps were coming at me and I squinted but there was nobody there. I tried to grab my wand from my back pocket but, I realized I was wearing a black dress that was a few inches up my knees. _

"_Is anyone there?" I said into the pitch black air. A tall figure came out of the shadows and smiled at me. He was wearing a black suit with a normal shirt inside. He had eyeglasses and his hair was standing in all directions. He looked familiar._

"_Who are you?" I asked, taking a step backward. To my surprise, the spotlight followed me. _

"_Don't you remember me, Evans?" the man said. Now that voice sounded familiar. I squint at him and to my utter horror, it was James._

"_James. James Potter," I said quietly. He smiled and took a step forward. _

"_Lily, I have bad news," said James quietly, "I'm really sorry but your mothers…"_

"_My mother's what?" I squeaked and half-ran half-walked to him. I grabbed his arm and gave him one of my '_Don't-Piss-Me-Off-I'm-Head-Girl'_ glares. He shrinks back. "What happened, James?"_

"_Your… she's dead, Lils," He said, staring at me as tears sprang into my face. With a swirl like a vortex, the image was gone and another came along._

_Mum was lying on a hospital bed, pale and cold. Petunia was crying into Dad's shoulder. _

"_Mum?" I squeaked. To my utter horror, mum faces me and opens her eyes. It was black and when she opened her mouth to speak, it was black too._

"_Why did you leave me, Lily?" she said in a hollow cold voice that made the hairs on my arm stand on end. "Why did you – QUACK - leave me for that – QUACK - James Potter of yours?"_

_Everything dissolved into pitch blackness and mum's words and more quacking were echoing. _

"_Why did you leave me… James Potter… yours? Why… leave? Why?"_

"_QUACK, QUACK, QUACK"_

"_Why? Leave me… JAMES POTTER!"_

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><p>"AHHHH! NO!"<p>

Lily sat bolt upright on her bed. Her alarm clock was quacking like a duck on her bedside table. Lily was having beads of sweat run down her face and her eyes were wide and horrified. Her bedroom door opened with a bang and Mr. Evans came rushing in. Momo jumped out of her basket and screeched. Mr. Evans ignored this.

"Lily? What's wrong?" He asked worriedly. Lily looked up at him and smiled sheepishly, grabbing Momo and patting her soothingly on the head.

"Sorry, Dad," she said quietly, "just a bad dream."

"Oh, thank God," Mr. Evans sighed, "I thought it was that mass murderer in the news last week." Lily snorted and stood up shakily. She set a relaxed Momo down on her basket and smiled at her father.

"Dad, I," Lily glanced annoyingly at her alarm clock that was already quacking in full volume. She waved her wand at it, which was right beside the clock, and it finally shut up. "Dad, could you just erm- go? I need to get ready for work."

"OK," said Mr. Evans. Right before he turned the door knob, he glanced at his daughter, "Are you sure you're okay, sweetheart?"

"I'm as sure as anything, Daddy," said Lily who made her way to her wardrobe. The door closed with a snap and with another wave of her wand, she sent a non-verbal _Colloportus_ at it. She dressed in purple wizard robes and a yellow top and a black skirt. She put on her usual shoes of the day and put her wand in her robes. She Apparated into the dining room and was fighting back a snigger when Petunia gave a little shriek over her newspaper.

"No need to shriek, Petunia," said Lily offhandedly. She snapped her fingers and brought out her wand, "Oh, right, I forgot my hat. _Accio purple witches hat_." Petunia's eyes grew wide as she watched a purple hat zoom into the room and land in Lily's hand. She watched as Lily put it on with hawk-like eyes.

"So, are you here to show-off your abnormality?" said Petunia coldly. Lily gave a mock offended look. Many years with the Marauders taught Lily how to do it well.

"Tuney," said Lily, "I'm here for Mum, OK?"

"Whatever," said Petunia. She put down her cup and got up. She threw her newspaper to the floor and shoved Lily as she passed by her. Lily stared after her sister. It always hurt her so much how Petunia acted around her. Mrs. Evans came in with a tray of breakfast.

"Lily, what was that all about?" said Mrs. Evans quizzically. Lily shook her head and sat down on her usual seat at the table.

"Nothing, Mum," she said, "just Petunia being Petunia." Mrs. Evans set the tray down in front of Lily. It was bacon and eggs, a blueberry muffin and one glass of orange juice. Lily smiled.

"Thanks, mum," said Lily. Mrs. Evans smiled and bustled off. Lily ate quietly and hurriedly. It was ten minutes till nine o' clock and Lily had to hurry up so she wouldn't be late. She wolfed down her bacon and eggs. Drank her orange juice and picked up her muffin. She turned on her heel and Apparated into her room. She picked up her bag of quills and parchments and sped out of her room. She knocked on Mrs. Evans' bedroom door.

"Mum, I'm going to work now, bye!" she said and turned on the spot and Disapparated. She arrived in Diagon Alley and hurried through the not so crowded street to the _Daily Prophet _office. She was bumping into loads of people who were doing early morning shopping or just simply loitering around the place. A few crumbs fell on the cobbled street as Lily ate her large blueberry muffin.

"Excuse me,"

"Oof!"

"Sorry, excuse me, coming through,"

"Watch where you're going, lady!"

"Sorry, sir, I'm in a hurry and – oof!" Lily bumped into someone, yet again. Her muffin nearly fell off the tips of her fingers. The person she bumped into was tall and a bit skinny but fit, no less. She looked up and her emerald eyes widened. Emerald eyes met hazel eyes. The man was wearing eyeglasses and had messy jet black hair. Lily gulped.

"Lily?" said James, looking very much surprised.

"James?" Lily tried to sound just as shocked as him and failing miserably.

"Wow, Lily! I can't believe it! I haven't seen you for ages," James grinned. Lily smiled.

"Well, I see you all the time in _Daily Prophet _photos," said Lily. She straightened her robes nervously and grinned at him.

"Oh, right," James smiled, "Sirius told me you're working in the _Daily Prophet_. So how's the job?"

"Oh… it's fine," said Lily, "working as an Advice Columnist in there is nice but it has a pretty low salary." James gave her an amused look.

"You think a thousand galleons salary is _low salary_?" he asked. Lily shot him a glare.

"Well, compared to yours it is," said Lily, "and I still have to pay the rent on my flat, groceries," Lily continued listing her household priorities but James wasn't listening. He was grinning madly.

"So, you want my job, is that it?" said James. Lily looked at him in horror. Anyone who saw her on a broom would _never ever_ offer her a job in Quidditch.

"NO!" Lily shouted. The people around them were starting to watch them curiously at the corner of their eyes. "I mean, no, of course not. You've seen me on a broom, Potter. You know how terrified and bad I am at flying."

"So it's back to Potter is it?" said James. Lily rolled her eyes but chose not to comment. She took a bite on her muffin and James' eyes fell on it.

"I could really tell you miss me," he whispered and pointed to the muffin. Lily glanced at it and blushed.

"Er – um – yeah err – I have to go," Lily stammered. She checked her wristwatch which was pointing at "Running Late". "I'm late for work. Bye James." She pecked his cheek in a friendly gesture and bustled off.

"Wait, Lily!" James called.

"Yeah?" Lily turned around. James was watching her carefully. Pink colors were starting to fill his cheeks.

"When could I see you again?" he said. He ruffled his hair nervously. Lily grinned.

"Just Owl me or you could use the Gryffindor 1971 – 1977 coins we have," said Lily, she scrambled inside her bag and took out a large red and gold coin. James nodded and Lily turned around again to hurry off into the crowd.

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><p>Lily sat on her chair in her <em>Daily Prophet <em>cubicle. Her next cubicle neighbor, Lucy Sastry, had jazz music blaring from Wizarding Wireless. Lily smiled; she enjoyed the jazz music a lot. Most of the music Lucy listened to was from the Muggle Specials. Lily was tapping on her typewriter and writing her last advice article of the day which was advice on Charm spells for an Anne Ludsthorp. She was just about to write a conclusion when Lucy's cockney accent rose from her cubicle.

"Oi, Lily," she said.

"Yeah?" said Lily almost lazily.

"There's this lady asking advice about her husband," said Lucy. Her head bobbed up from her cubicle wall and looked down at Lily. "Says that her husband's cheatin' on her. What should I say?"

"Erm," Lily thought for a while. She stopped tapping on her typewriter and looked up. "Let me see her letter."

Lucy took it from her cluttered desk and handed it to Lily. She read it hurriedly.

"I guess you should say that they should take marriage counseling sessions," said Lily, "From what the letter said, the lady's been seeing her husband with another woman. Tell her to find out who the woman is. The woman's background, workplace, past relationships, etc." Lily handed the letter back and Lucy nodded.

"You sound like a marriage counselor yourself, Lily," said Lucy as she sat down on her chair. Lily snorted and started tapping again. After a few more sentences she was finally done.

"Finally!" said Lily, throwing her hands in the air. A small '_who!_' of an owl made Lily look up begrudgingly. She groaned and opened the window to let the owl.

"Not another letter asking for advice!" Lily moaned. Lucy sniggered. Lily shot her a glare and took the letter from the owl's beak. Lily patted the owl on the head and it flew out the window. "God, today's such a drag." She flipped the letter to see who it was from and Lily raised her eyebrows. She ripped it open and read it.

_Dear Lily,_

_I hope I didn't disturb anything. I tried coining you but you wouldn't answer. _

Lily fumbled inside her bag and took out her coin. It was ringing slightly which meant she missed a few calls. Lily turned back to her letter.

_So, I was thinking. And maybe you'd like to go out to dinner with me? Later tonight perhaps? I really hope you'll say yes this time. Trust me, I'm not asking you to be my girlfriend or anything. We're just going to have a friendly dinner together, okay?_

_With best regards,_

_James Potter_

_P.S. I'll just pick __you up from your flat on 6 o' clock._

Lily sighed in relief. It wasn't an advice letter at all.

"So, what's the person asking advice on?" said Lucy interestedly. Lily stiffened.

"He's not asking for advice," said Lily quietly, "He's asking if I'd like to go out to dinner with him later tonight."

"What?" Lucy squeaked. "Who's it from?"

Lily instantly regretted what she said. If she was going to say, "_James Potter_" then Lucy would go berserk. If she said, "_From an old friend of mine_" Lucy would grab the letter, read the whole of it, read the signature, and go berserk. Lily sighed.

"From an old friend of mine," she said quietly.

"Really?" Lucy asked skeptically, "Give me the letter." When Lily held it behind her back, Lucy glared and took out her wand. With the agility of a fox, Lucy hollered.

"_Accio _letter Lily is hiding behind her back," Lily yelped. The letter flew into Lucy's outstretched hands. With a triumphant smirk, she unfolded it.

"Okay, so let's see who-" she stopped short. Her eyes widened and she glanced Lily then back to the letter. Her mouth open and closed like a fish. Lily watched her in defeat.

"J-_James Potter_?" Lucy hollered. The whole advice department went quiet. All the heads looked around to stare at both of them. Lily blushed slightly. She didn't anticipate it'll reach the whole department _that_ fast.

"You didn't tell me you were going out with _the _James Potter!" Lucy told Lily reproachfully. Lily sighed.

"I told you, we're old friends, we were Head Boy and Girl in Hogwarts and the letter says it's friendly." But her sentence was drowned by shrill squeals from the girls of the department. Lily sighed. She ignored the whispers and voices around her and took the letter from Lucy. She sent her a glare and sat down on her chair. She took out her quill, and emerald green ink. She summoned a piece of parchment with her wand and started writing.

_Dear James,_

_You could've been more subtle about your name, James. The whole advice department is buzzing when an officemate of mine read your name out loud from the letter. It'll probably in the _Evening Prophet _later on. The headline would be _'James Potter and _Daily Prophet_ Advice Columnist, Lily Evans, Are Dating'_. God, that'll be Hell to clean up. You'd be happy about that, wouldn't you?_

_Anyway, James, I'd be happy to go out to dinner with you. I'm not staying at my flat at Fulham, by the way. I'm staying over at my parents' house. I'll just meet you at the Leaky Cauldron._

_Looking forward to seeing you._

_With love,_

_Lily Evans_

She folded that up and collected her things. She picked up her bag and her newly finished advice articles and hurried off.

"I'm going now. Bye, Lucy," said Lily hurriedly.

"Bye!" said Lucy in awe. Lily hurried to the Advice Department Head Office and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" A deep voice said. Lily went in hurriedly.

"Good afternoon, Benjamin," Lily greeted her boss. Benjamin nodded and smiled.

"Always the efficient employee, Lily," Benjamin grinned, "You'll probably Employee of the Month this month."

"Thanks," Lily smiled and handed him the articles. He thumbed through the papers and nodded.

"Right," said Benjamin, "You could go home now."

"Thanks, Benjamin!" Lily grinned and Apparated out.

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><p><strong>AN**: I can't believe I made two updates in two days already! :D Anyway, there will be a climax to the story. Yeah, that'll be _a lot _of chapters later. I want to make this like a real novel with an introduction, a rising action, climax, falling action etc. And yeah, there will be DRAMA!

The ' **Gryffindor 1971-1977 Coin_' _**is an invention of the Marauders in this world. The Marauders made and gave the **Gryffindor 1971-1977 Coin **to each Gryffindor in their class. It's a bit like Hermione's D.A. Galleons but instead, you can call the holder of another coin with it. It also has a trace on it so you could touch the Gryffindor lion in the middle and say the name of a holder then you will instantly know where the other holder you are looking for is, then you could have the choice to apparate to wherever that person.

**Review, review, review, guys! All kinds of criticism is APPRECIATED!**

With tons of love,

Liloony xoxo

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><p><strong>DISCLAIMERS: Lucy Sastry and the Gryffindor 1971-1977 Coin is mine. The rest are J.K.'s! <strong>

**Lily Evans, James Potter, Petunia Dursley (nee Evans), Daily Prophet, Diagon Alley, Magic Spells and such (c) J.K. Rowling**


	5. Chapter 5: Back and Dangerous

**A/N: Hey guys! Liloony here again. There'll be a surprise in here. A very very big surprise, you might not be expecting it. :D**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything except for a few OC's! The rest are J.K.'s!**

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><p><strong>Chapter Five: Back and Dangerous<br>**by: Liloony

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><p>With one faint pop, Lily arrived at the <em>Leaky Cauldron <em>at 5:50 P.M. Tom the Landlord looked up from his bar and grinned toothlessly at the familiar woman in front of him.

"Hello Miss Lily," he said cheerfully.

"Hello, Tom," said Lily and took out two Sickles from her bag that she slung over shoulder, "could I have a butterbeer?" Tom took the Sickles and took out a bottle of cold butterbeer. Lily took and said her thanks before sitting down on a stool. She took out her Gryffindor Coin and whispered the password to it. She uttered Rachel's name and it started ringing.

"Hullo, Rachel here," Rachel's voice floated from the coin.

"Hey, Rachel, it's Lily," said Lily brightly to the coin.

"Oh, hey Lily!" said Rachel, "I have big news for you! A Healer here is researching on Cancer healing spells and potions and he says that after a few years, he'll be able to heal any kind of cancer with a flick and swish of his wand." Lily gasped.

"That's great!" said Lily breathlessly, "is there any chance they could do it to a Muggle like mum?" Lily opened her butterbeer and took a sip.

"He's working on that too," said Rachel, "I only just found out today about his research. When he's finished with his research, he'll be able to teach the Healers and I'll be able to do it on your Mum in a jiffy."

"That's really great," said Lily and she took another sip.

"Where are you anyway?" said Rachel, "I could hear you drinking… is that butterbeer?"

"Yeah, I'm at the Leaky Cauldron waiting for James," said Lily. Rachel gasped.

"Are both of you going anywhere?" said Rachel excitedly. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but it's just a friendly little dinner," said Lily. Trust Rachel to overreact. Rachel paused.

"I guess so," said Rachel, "Every time he visits Sirius and I at the flat, all he talks about with me is you." Rachel laughed.

"You're bluffing," Lily told her seriously.

"Of course I'm not!" Rachel exclaimed. A small pop was audible from the front door and Lily looked up. It was James. She turned back to the coin.

"I'll talk to you later, James is here," said Lily hurriedly. James was walking toward her.

"Ok, good luck! Bye," said Rachel excitedly.

"Bye," Lily shook the coin hastily and the coin became quiet. She threw it in her bag and smiled at James. He grinned cockily.

"Hello," he said. "Who were you talking to just now?"

"Erm – the Musical Genius," Lily grinned mischievously. James laughed.

The whole of their lot used to call Rachel 'the Musical Genius' in fifth year when she started bringing musical instruments from her house to Hogwarts and play jazz music in the common room every night. She brought anything from a piano to a guitar and cello. The only thing that amazed Lily was that she had all kinds of guitars.

"Sirius told me she wanted to go to America and sign up for that Muggle thing," said James, "what do you call that? Broad Highway?" Lily laughed.

"It's Broadway, James," said Lily who groped inside her bag, "want a Red Vine?" Lily took out a blue packet of long red sticks.

"What's that?" said James.

"Licorice! It's the most delicious thing in the world! Try it," Lily insisted. She took one from the packet and took a bite to reassure him. He took one hesitantly and chewed on it. He laughed.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked. James just laughed and shook his head.

"Tastes just like Liquorice Wands," he grinned. "So shall we go?" he held out his hand to Lily.

"Where are we going exactly?" Lily asked hesitantly.

"It's a secret," he said and took Lily's hand. They went to the brick wall and James tapped his wand at a few bricks. They went through the archway and into Diagon Alley.

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><p>They sat in window seats at a restaurant called Twidly's Homemade Wizard Pastries and Meals. It was filled with bright colors of beige, green, red, and violet. It looked like a restaurant made of candy actually.<p>

"When you said dinner, I thought you said somewhere all business-like," Lily laughed, "but I really like it here. It looks like I'm in Wonderland."

"What's that? A Muggle disorder?" James snorted. Lily gave him an annoyed look.

"Wonderland is a place in a book by Lewis Carroll," said Lily, "I brought the book with me, actually." She took out a hardbound book and passed it over to him. James took it amusedly.

"'_Alice in Wonderland_'" he muttered. "How many things have you got in there?" he pointed to Lily's small pouch bag. Lily smirked.

"I put an Undetectable Extension Charm on it," said Lily proudly. James rolled his eyes.

"Nerd," he said.

"Toe-rag," said Lily.

"Swot"

"Git,"

"Geek,

"Snotty git,"

"Know-it-all,"

"Snotty git,"

"HA!" James exclaimed in triumph, "You used 'snotty git' twice already! I win!" Lily stuck her tongue out at him and laughed.

"Some things never change, does it?" Lily laughed and picked up her champagne.

"No," said James thoughtfully. He paused. "No, it doesn't." He looked up at Lily with bright hazel eyes. Lily almost choked on her champagne. Half of the cause was because of the bad taste and the other half was because of James' bright stare. She blushed deeply and hastened to change the subject.

"God, that's revolting," Lily made a face and set down her champagne. She grabbed a glass of water beside the champagne and drank it to drown the taste of the champagne, "So, how are the rest of the Marauders? I haven't seen Remus and Peter for a month now." James ruffled his hair with his free hand.

"Well, Remus can't find any work so he's staying with Maggie at the moment," James paused, "Peter… Well, Peter's kind of disappeared." Lily stared at him in shock.

"What? Why?" Lily gasped. James shook his head.

"I don't know," he said, "he took a trip to Bulgaria after we graduated and never came back ever since. His mum's in hysterics at the moment. First, her husband divorced her, now, her only beloved son disappears. It's hard on her."

"Is anyone looking for him?" Lily asked worriedly. She pictured poor little Peter lost in some cold woods in Bulgaria, his blond hair swishing in the bitter wind and his eyes as watery as ever. She gave an involuntary shiver. James nodded.

"A few Aurors are looking for him," said James. Lily sighed.

"I hope they find him soon," said Lily and ate one more Red Vine.

"I hope so," said James as their orders arrived. The waitress smiled at Lily but smiled even more warmly at James. Lily fought back a laugh as she watched the waitress being all mushy and sweet.

"Here is your mashed potato and pork chops, miss," she handed the plate to Lily who mumbled her thanks. She turned to James, "Here is your roast beef and pumpkin pasty, sir," she handed it to James. "Oh, and yes, today's special, treacle tart!" The woman exclaimed cheerfully and set it down. "Let me know when you will need anything else."

"Thanks," Lily smiled. The waitress scuttled off. They started eating slowly.

"Lily," said James.

"Yeah?" Lily looked up.

"I have a question,"

"Ask away,"

"Why did you hate me all those years?" said James. He looked straight into Lily's piercing green eyes. Lily hesitated.

"Well," Lily hesitated. "I guess because –" but the rest of her words were drowned by screams and bangs all around the cobbled street of Diagon Alley. Lily looked around and with the agility of a fox, she took out her wand and yelled,

"_Protego_!" Lily pointed to the windows. James followed suit. Lily pointed to the whole room. "_Protego Horribilis_!" she pointed to the entrance door and was about to send a _Colloportus _at it when it burst open with a bang. Everyone ran out and scrambled. Two men in dark robes of red walked in and started firing spells at everyone. Lily and James ducked as a Stunning Spell flew past them. Lily hid behind her chair and shot a Knockback Jinx at one of the men. She smirked in triumph as she watched the man fly into the wall. She turned to James,

"What's going on?"

"I don't know, STUPEFY!" He sent a stunning spell at a man at the door and grabbed Lily's hand and ran out. More spells and curses erupted from the whole street. They ran as fast as they could to the _Leaky Cauldron_.

"Why can't we just Disapparate? FLIPPENDO!" Lily pointed her wand to another man in dark red robes.

"Disapparation Wards," James said hastily after firing a Stunning Spell at another man. "We can't get out."

They ran and ran but with a flash of bright light, Lily went soaring through the air and hung upside down, making her skirt go down and her purple knickers displayed high up in the air. A few men in dark red robes jeer. James didn't dare look and settled to firing hexes at red robed men.

"OI YOU MORONS!" Lily screamed. "_Mucus-ad-Nauseam_!" A whole gang of monsters erupted from Lily's wand and attacked the men. They ran off and fired hexes at the monsters but Lily's hex was too strong for them.

"_Bitches_," Lily muttered and pointed her wand at herself, "_Descendo_." She finally stood upright on the ground and started firing hexes furiously. Lily saw a dark red robed man about to perform an unknown curse on a woman and Lily pointed her wand to the man.

"_EVERTE STATUM_!" The man flew back and hit his head on a wall. The woman screamed her thanks and ran away.

James was starting walk backwards as lots of men advanced on him. Lily did the same as more appeared at her side. They finally stood back to back and more advanced on them.

"God, we're doomed," Lily whispered.

"When do the Aurors arrive?" James whispered back. It was quiet and the only sound was the footsteps of running people and a few more spells and hexes.

"Use a non-verbal _protego _on you now," Lily whispered. She raised her wand slightly and thought _protego_. "Then if they're aggressive, fire '_Sectumsempra_'. I repeat '_Sectumsempra_'. Use it non-verbally." She whispered.

"Nerd," James muttered. Lily rolled her eyes. Trust James to be all arrogant in a serious situation.

"Ah, young people," a deep voice said. The men assembled formed a semi-circle and a man that looked just as old as Dumbledore walked toward them. His dark red robes billowed behind him. '_For the Greater Good_' was printed in gold in front of his robes. Lily squinted at him. He was familiar. Immensely familiar. He looked like someone from a textbook, actually, but more old and more aged. Lily gasped.

"Gellert Grindelwald," she said loudly.

"What?" James whispered.

"Gellert Grindelwald. The man Professor Dumbledore defeated years ago. I thought he was at Nurmengard!" said Lily hastily. Grindelwald grinned menacingly.

"You're smart," he said. He had a heavy accent. "I escaped from Nurmengard, of course. With small help." He gestured to a blonde little man that looked like he was merely eighteen. He was wearing dark red robes and looked like he was cowering in fear.

"PETER!" James shouted. The blonde little man cowered even more. "Peter, how could you?"

"I'm… I'm sorry, James!" Peter gasped.

"Oh, so you know each other?" Grindelwald sneered. James glared at Peter.

"Rather die than betray your own friends and the Ministry," James snapped at Peter. Peter cowered.

"Oh, that's too bad," said Grindelwald, "After watching both of you dueling my Soul Devourers, I have decided to recruit both of you." Lily snorted.

"Weren't you a Muggle-hater?" Lily sneered, "You wouldn't want a Muggleborn in your ranks."

"Oh, so you are Muggleborn?" said Grindelwald, "Well, I do not care for I need more men and both of you are perfect."

"I'd rather die than join you," Lily spat.

"Seconded!" James exclaimed. Grindelwald's face contorted in rage.

"Well, then, DIE! AVADA-"

"STELEUS!" Lily screamed. Grindelwald started to sneeze. Lily took this to her advantage and did a non-verbal _Sectumsempra _on him. Blood spilt all over his robes as a small gash appeared on his face. The Soul Devourers started firing hexes at both of them but Lily and James did another Protego on themselves. But a jinx had gotten through their defenses and given James a nosebleed. Another hex hit Lily and one tooth fell out of her mouth. Blood started to spurt out from it.

"STUPEFY!" James screamed. Lily raised her wand.

"AVIS! AVIS! OPPUGNO!" Lily screamed. A few men yelled and ran as yellow canaries started to attack them. Lily pointed to the floor they were running at and screamed, "Glacius!" The floor froze into ice and they started slipping. Grindelwald was still unconscious on the ground and Peter was helping him up. A large bang erupted from the direction of the _Leaky Cauldron_ and swear words and curses started flying as the Aurors arrived.

"Took them long enough," James muttered. He raised his wand in the air, "Periculum!" Red sparks flew into the midnight blue air and a few Aurors came running to their direction. Lily heard Grindelwald whisper to Peter, "Disapparate with me, now!" and both of them disappeared.

"NO!" Lily screamed. She fired a final spell at them before they disappeared but it went through and hit a bin. Aurors were starting to attack and Lily sighed in relief. She saw Frank and Alice taking on a few Soul Devourers with such Auror awesomeness they looked like nothing could beat them. Lily grabbed James' hand and Disapparated. They arrive at Surrey in the Evans household. Petunia screamed as they collapsed into the floor and slipped into unconsciousness.

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><p><strong>AN: I shocked you, didn't I? Grindelwald escaped from Nurmengard. I wouldn't want to write a fanfic without some war would I? Hope you liked this chapter. And yes, I turned Peter into a traitor **_**again **_**because I hate him. That's just how it is.**

**By the way, that hex Lily did when she was upside down was called Curse of the Bogies. Look it up.**

**Review! Review! Review! If you review, you get treacle tart, a cookie and a muffin! All criticism is appreciated!**

**With love,**

**Liloony xoxo**

**Lily Evans, James Potter, Gellert Grindelwald, Peter Pettigrew, Tom the Landlord, Leaky Cauldron, Diagon Alley, Butterbeer, spells, curses, hexes and jinxes © J.K. Rowling**


	6. Chapter 6: Daily Prophet Articles

**A/N: Yo, people. It's Liloony here again! :D Well, I'm changing my pen name to Phaedra Delamire. My real life initials are P.D. so I kinda based my new pen name on it. I changed the whole thing becoz I think Liloony makes me look like I'm crazy. **

**Hope you'll enjoy!**

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><p><strong>DISCLAIMERS: I do not own anything except for a few OC's. The rest are J.K.'s!<strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter Six: Daily Prophet Articles<br>**by: Phaedra Delamire

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><p>"<em>Rennervate<em>,"

"Wha? Wha?" Lily mumbled. She was squirming on the floor of the Evans household living room and James Potter was lying unconscious beside her. Rachel and Sirius were hovering over her. Mrs. Evans, Mr. Evans, and Petunia were hovering in the background. Once Lily started mumbling, Sirius walked over to James and mumbled the same spell used on Lily. James sat bolt upright, his eyes wide and his hair as disheveled as ever.

"Lily," Rachel began, "What happened? Why'd you lose a tooth? Why'd James' nose break?"

Lily felt for the place where she lost her tooth, and found it was back.

"_That _is an excellent question, Rachel," said James. Lily grabbed Rachel's arm.

"Gellert Grindelwald is back," said Lily horrified. A hushed silence washed over Rachel and Sirius.

"What?" said Sirius, looking at Lily like she was crazy. "You're mental, Lily. That's impossible. He's in Nurmengard!"

"No, it's true, Padfoot!" James exclaimed. "Why do you think we got here like this?"

"Wait, who's Gellert Grindelwald?" Petunia asked snootily.

"He's an evil wizard, Tuney," said Lily gravely, "He used to torture and kill Mu- normal people like you. And now he's back."

"This is bad," said Sirius, "This'll start a war _again_."

"We only managed to escape," James put in.

"What happened exactly?" said Rachel. Lily and James plunged into their story. They started when they started hearing the bangs, they left out how Lily floated up into the air after James glanced at Lily who was turning red when they got to that part, then to when they found out where Peter had gone to, then ended when the Aurors started arriving.

"Soul Devourers," Sirius mused, "What in Merlin's baggy pants is that?"

"I guess it's what he calls his supporters, sweetheart," Rachel told him.

"And now Peter's part of that stupid gang," said Sirius heatedly. "I can't believe this."

"Well, he was more of a tag-along in Hogwarts, wasn't he?" said Lily.

"But he was part of the Marauders, Lily," said James, "He's our friend, he's our brother, he's our Wormtail!"

"I know," Lily sighed. "What time is it?"

"Nine o' clock," said Mrs. Evans who checked the wall clock over the fireplace. Lily stood up.

"Did it appear in the _Evening Prophet_?" she asked. Rachel shook her head.

"There's no _Evening Prophet _tonight," she said, "They didn't get a chance to publish it."

"I guess they'll put the news out in the _Daily Prophet _tomorrow," said Sirius. Two consecutive _pops_ were heard from the backyard. We looked out the window to see Frank and Alice heading toward the door. They went into the living room, looking out of breath and shaken.

"Lily! James!" Alice gasped. "Rita Skeeter is coming. We couldn't stop her. A few more reporters got wind that both of you had managed to attack their leader. They're coming."

"What?" Lily snapped. "We've got to get out of here. A lot of reporters wearing weird robes coming here in the middle of the night will catch the neighbor's attention."

"But Lily, where will you go?" Mrs. Evans asked hurriedly.

"To my flat, of course," said Lily. "I'll be back later tonight." She told her family and all of them Disapparated.

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><p>In a few minutes time, the reporters had already gotten to Lily's flat and it was jam packed. Lily sighed. She was starting to get a head ache as the reporters kept firing question after question at her and James. The others were hovering in the background, listening to their account on things. Then the blonde swirly haired Rita Skeeter popped the big question.<p>

"Who was the leader of the _Soul Devourers_, you say?" she asked, her Quick Quotes Quill floated above her piece of parchment. Lily glanced at James and he glanced back.

"Gellert Grindelwald," they said together. Whispers were passed from reporter and Skeeter laughed.

"But he's in Nurmengard!" said Skeeter derisively. A few others laughed. A vein on Lily's jaw pulsed. James had caught that and he knew it was a sign Lily was about to explode.

"What we say is true," said James, intervening for Lily who closed her eyes tightly. "He said himself that he escaped from Nurmengard." Skeeter and the others stopped laughing. Lily opened her eyes and it looked like melted emerald gems.

"If you do not believe what we say, then leave Skeeter," said Lily with her You-Don't-Want-To-Piss-Me-Off-I'm-Head-Girl tone at the nosy former Hufflepuff. Skeeter looked scandalized and her quill was writing furiously on the parchment. "Whatever crap you write on that parchment, I don't care. I don't care if you say I'm barking mad because what James and I are saying is true. Now, I am having a head ache, and I had a long day, I wish to sleep. Any other questions?" Nobody answered. "Good. Good night to you all." Lily made a bee line for her bed room door and slammed it. Everybody was speechless. Sirius and Rachel were gaping after her. Skeeter was wide eyed and furious. Frank and Alice were staring at Lily's door. James was grinning.

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why you should never _ever _piss off Lily Evans,"

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><p>"Have you seen the <em>Daily Prophet <em>article about last night?" said Lily through her teeth from flask of coffee. "Skeeter said I was a cow who was immensely infatuated with James."

"Yeah," said Rachel. They were sitting in the Three Broomsticks along with the rest of the other Gryffindors except for Alice and Frank who were at the Auror Office. "It was horrible how she said it."

"They even had a picture of Lily and I with our Head Boy and Girl badges pinned on our robes," said James, shoving todays _Prophet _to the table. Everyone leaned in to see and just as James said, there he and Lily were in black and white in front of the Black Lake. James was trying to take off Lily's hat with his wand behind his back and Lily was yelling at him. Right below was a caption, "_James Potter (left) and Lily Evans (right). It seems Evans is fueling her love for Potter with arguments and fights._" Lily shut her eyes in agitation.

"That bitch," said Sirius. They all stared at him. Sirius shrugged. "Lily needed some words of hatred for the cow."

"Thank you, Sirius," said Lily, her eyes still closed. She took another sip of her coffee.

"I liked the _Quibbler_'s version of events more," said Remus quietly. He took out the familiar magazine with another much smaller picture of Lily and James laughing and waving at them in graduation right above Grindelwalds large picture, smirking up at them. "**Gellert Grindelwald Has Escaped Nurmengard! **Special Interview from Lily Evans and James Potter Inside" was printed in bold red letters on the cover. Right below, written in violet lettering was, "Secrets of the Crumple-Horned Snorcack REVEALED!". Remus flipped through the pages and found another page with another picture of Grindelwald. Remus read it aloud for everyone. When he finished Mary sighed.

"At least Benjy's is more accurate," said Mary. She was dating Benjy at the moment.

"Tell me what really happened, Lily," said Marlene. "I didn't really hear it first-hand."

"James, you say it," said Lily who sipped her coffee. She didn't listen as James plunged into the story again. She was too pre-occupied in her thoughts. Lily knew what Rita Skeeter published would be hard to clean up. She was lucky enough to even escape Lucy Sastry and the rest of the girls of the Advice Department for a day but she knew when she starts work again, they'll be sending her death glares. Everything in Lily's head was revolving from Rita Skeeter, _Daily Prophet _article, Grindelwald, then back to Skeeter. Lily closed her eyes and took the _Daily Prophet_, skipped the article, and flipped through to the Classifieds. She read the obituaries and one name caught her eye. Well, his former occupation actually. Lily read with her eyes.

_John Tedcastle_

_Born: July 12, 1930_

_Died: July 29, 1978_

_Former Occupation: Member of the Committee on Experimental Charms_

_John will always be remembered. _

Lily's eyes brightened as she read the word _Charms_. She flipped over to the job openings and found an opening in the Committee on Experimental Charms. Lily almost jumped for joy when she saw that it was in the Ministry. She read the qualifications quietly and found she passed it all. Lily grinned.

If she was going to be accepted in this Committee, she'll have her escape from the girls at the _Daily Prophet_!

"Committee on Experimental Charms here I come," she muttered to herself.

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><p><strong>AN: Yey! Lily found a new job! All she needs to do is apply for it now. Sorry about the obituary, I don't know much about that kind of stuff. God, I hate Rita Skeeter. I'm not really sure if I made her annoying here but I'm trying to work on that.**

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Review! Review! Review! Any kind of criticism is APPRECIATED! If you review, you get a cookie, a treacle tart or a Red Vine!**

**With love,**

**Phaedra**

**Lily Evans, James Potter, Sirius Black, Skeeter, Mary MacDonald, Marlene, Three Broomsticks, Grindelwald, Benjy Fenwick, Nurmengard, Daily Prophet, Evening Prophet, spells, Committee on Experimental Charms, Petunia Evans © J.K. Rowling**


	7. Chapter 7: Susan and Tarquin

**A/N: Hey guys! Phaedra Delamire here! **I'm sorry I didn't update. My mum ground me when she found out I was failing Math and I was forbidden to touch the computer for three whole days. Why is it that I find Math so hard?****

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: I own nothing except for a few OC's! The rest are J.K.'s!<strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter Seven: Susan and Tarquin<br>**by: Phaedra Delamire

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><p>Lily Flooed into the Ministry of Magic. She coughed and brushed the ashes on her clothes as she stepped. Lily gasped as she saw the majestic golden fountain in front of her. People were Flooing in and out and a few were Apparating in. Lily headed over to a security desk that led to a corridor. Lily smiled at the man there.<p>

"Hello," said Lily, "I'm looking for the Committee on Experimental Charms."

"Level 9, Department of Mysteries," said the man. "Please give me your wand for a moment." Lily looked at him, perplexed but handed it to him anyway. He rested it on what looked like a metal weighing scale. He pressed a button and a strip of parchment flew out of an opening in it. The man squinted at it.

"You are Lily Antoinette Evans and your wand is 10¼ inches, willow and unicorn hair core, is that correct?" he looked up at Lily. Lily nodded. He gave back her wand. Lily paused.

"Which door do I go into when I get there?" said Lily. The man pressed a button and called into what looked like a receiver for a telephone.

"Department of Mysteries," said a female voice which was filled with excitement.

"Pauline, send someone over here, there's a woman over here by the name of," he squinted at the piece of parchment, "Lily Evans and she wants to apply for a job, I think?"

"Lily Evans…" said Pauline, "Ah! Yes, I've wanted to talk to her. I'll send Gideon over." And with that her voice disappeared with a pop. The man turned back to Lily.

"Please, wait over there," he pointed to a set of purple chairs, "Someone will come over. The Department of Mysteries is quite a weird department." Lily nodded solemnly and sat down on a chair.

How did that Pauline recognize her? And why did she want to talk to Lily? Those were the questions in Lily's head as she waited there for one whole minute before a ginger haired man arrived and told the man at the security desk.

"I'm here for Lily Evans?" The man at the desk merely pointed at Lily. She stood up and smiled as the man walked towards her. Lily realized with a small jolt that this was _Gideon Prewett_!

"You must be Lily Evans," Gideon smiled and held out his hand. Lily took it in hers and shook it.

"Gideon. Gideon Prewett?" said Lily. "You were Head Boy when I was in first year." Gideon laughed.

"No, that was my twin brother, Fabian," said Gideon amusedly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I never really got your names right," said Lily embarrassedly.

"No, it's fine," said Gideon, "So, shall we go?" Lily nodded. Gideon led her through the corridors and into a circular room with lifts. They hurried over to a lift with a few people in it. Gideon pressed the number nine button.

"I'd hold the hand rails if I were you," he told Lily.

"Why – oof!" Lily was pulled backwards when the lift moved backwards so hurriedly.

_Damn, inertia_, Lily thought and grabbed one of the hand rails. After a few stops they finally arrived in the Department of Mysteries. It was a bit eerie. The walls were painted black and the floor had black tiles. They hurried down one corridor and turned right to one corridor which led to one door.

"That's it," said Gideon as they stopped in front of the door. He opened the door quietly. Inside was a circular room with a highly polished floor that looks almost like standing water and twelve handleless doors. They stepped in and the door closed. To Lily's immense surprise, the walls rotated swiftly then stopped abruptly. Gideon sighed.

"I was afraid that would happen," he said. He uttered something and raised his wand. He lowered it again and moved toward one of the doors.

"Err – Gideon, what just happened?" asked Lily.

"Oh, the walls rotate when an unauthorized personnel enters. It's a security thing," said Gideon. He pushed the door open.

"Welcome to the Confidential Creation of Charms and Spells Division," said Gideon. The room was rectangular and the walls were dark purple. The carpeted floor was black. Cubicles like in the _Daily Prophet _stood and a lot of people were working in their own individual ones. At the end of the room was a large, heavily padded room with a sign, "Experimentation Room". A wooden desk sat beside the door and a woman that looked like she was in her early forties grinned up at them.

"Hello, Miss Evans," said the woman. She stood up and reached forward and shook Lily's hand. "My name is Pauline Trevett, Head of the Department of Mysteries. I've heard so much about you from Filius and Albus. They say that your Charms work is amazing."

"Urm thanks," said Lily. Gideon had left them and went to his own cubicle. Pauline gestured to a seat in front of her desk. Lily sat down.

"Albus, an old friend of mine, sent me a letter regarding that you would absolutely love a job in the Committee," said Pauline, "I also read about your N.E.W.T.S. and you got straight Outstandings! I was so impressed and so were a few examiners that tested you in your N.E.W.T.S. I was just about to write you a letter when dear old Roger called in and said you were here." She laughed.

"Well, yes, and Madam Trevett-" said Lily but Pauline cut her off.

"Oh, please, call me Pauline, everyone does," she said. She took out a piece of parchment and started writing.

"Pauline, I came here to ask for a job," said Lily. Pauline stopped writing and grinned.

"You got the job," said Pauline cheerfully. Lily's eyes widened.

"What?" she said, shell-shocked.

"You got the job!" Pauline repeated. She took hold of the parchment and handed Lily a quill. "All you need to do now, Lily, is to sign there. It's an oath to secrecy since you _will _be an Unspeakable once I give you the job." Lily took the quill and parchment. She read the contract quietly and thoughtfully. Lily looked up again.

"You're really serious about giving me a job?" said Lily.

"Yes, of course, Lily," said Pauline. Lily reread the contract and finally signed it. Pauline flicked her wand at it and the parchment flashed in a ray of light.

"There, that should make the whole contract binding," said Pauline. "Lily Evans, you are now an Unspeakable."

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><p>Lily arrived at the Evans household, a bit breathless. Pauline had shown her around the Department of Mysteries and everything was so fascinating, Lily couldn't hide her excited look. Then after that, Pauline taught her a spell that would make her know where she was going. They had practiced until Lily knew where all the rooms were. Then Pauline showed Lily her cubicle which looked rather like her old <em>Daily Prophet <em>one. Pauline then introduced her to the whole Confidential Charms and Spells Division. Then Pauline let Lily go home since she would start work tomorrow.

Lily headed into the living room and grinned as she watched her parents slow dancing to a slow song.

"Want me to play the piano for you?" said Lily. Mrs. Evans grinned at her daughter and nodded. Lily turned off the radio and went over to the piano that looked identical to the one at her room. Almost like a twin.

"What do you want me to play?" said Lily as she sat down on the piano bench.

"How about that piece Rachel made for your Mum and I in Christmas eve last year?" said Mr. Evans thoughtfully. Another proof of Rachel's "musical geniusness" is that she writes songs. She played this little melodramatic one for Sirius in their first anniversary and that was the only time anyone saw Sirius Black _cry_. It's kind of a talent of hers that she developed into pure genius. It's really amazing when you get passed her not so pretty looks and shy personality, (which really clashes with Sirius' – No one knows how they ended up together) she always sings and plays like it's her last performance.

Lily stood up and opened the lid of the piano bench to rummage for the sheet music. And there it was in black in white.

"_Susan and Tarquin_," Lily muttered. She put it in the stand and eased her fingers on the keys. The piece started from cheerful harmony. Mrs. Evans and Mr. Evans started dancing. The piece was beautiful. Nothing could describe it any better than two words, _heart tugging_. Then the piece descended into a dark harmony that was a bit tear jerking too. Lily slid her hand on the keys, making the music sound like going up in a ladder and it finally turned into soulful and peaceful. The piece ended with a melodramatic flow of the keys.

"That was beautiful," said Mrs. Evans as they stopped dancing. Mr. Evans nodded. Lily smiled.

"I have good news," said Lily. "I have a new job at the Ministry of Magic."

"What really?" said Mr. Evans excitedly. Lily nodded. "I'm so proud of you."

"Where are you working exactly?" said Mrs. Evans.

"At the Department of Mysteries in the Committee on Experimental Charms or the Confidential Creation of Charms and Spells Division," said Lily. Mrs. Evans smiled.

"So you'll be making spells then?" she said. Lily nodded. Mrs. Evans hugged Lily. "I'm so proud!" then in a split second she started screaming in agony.

"Mum!" Lily yelled as Mrs. Evans collapsed into Mr. Evans' arms.

"Susan!" yelled Mr. Evans. Petunia came bounding off the steps.

"What's happening?" she asked, her eyes open wide at the sight.

"It's Mum!" Lily screamed, tears started streaming down her eyes.

"I'll get the car, we'll go to the hospital," said Petunia who hurried out. Mr. Evans hoisted Mrs. Evans into his arms and hurried out.

"Tarquin!" screamed Mrs. Evans, "Let the pain end!" she gasped, tears running down her face. Mr. Evans' eyes were watery as he tried to soothe his wife. Lily pointed her wand at the door and it burst open just before Mr. Evans went out. Lily dashed out, sent a non-verbal _Colloportus_ at it and jumped into the car.

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><p>"I-I don't know what to say," said Dr. Pennifold, "her cancer is very aggressive. It's starting to spread to her bones and – I'm sorry to say – she has stage four breast cancer."<p>

"What?" Petunia yelled. "But that's almost impossible to heal!"

"I am aware of that," said Dr. Pennifold quietly. Lily stared at her.

"Can't you do _anything_?" said Lily.

"Take more vitamins," said Dr. Pennifold. They talked for a few more minutes before the doctor left. Mr. Evans wasn't even paying attention. He kept stroking Mrs. Evans face and her hair as she slept. He didn't let anyone see it but he's cracking up inside.

"I-I'll go to the bathroom for a minute," said Lily quietly, standing up. She didn't need the bathroom, she needed to succumb. Lily went out to find Mary, Rachel, Remus, Sirius and James outside, sitting on the chairs that lined the hospital corridor. To Lily's relief, they dressed like Muggles. Rachel stood up and hugged Lily.

"W-What's going on?" asked Mary.

"We heard you screaming and fighting with the doctor," said James. Lily merely shook her head and fell on an empty seat. She put her head in her hands and screamed. They all scrambled to her side and started comforting her. James wrapped his arm around her comfortingly. Nurses and visitors that passed by gave her a sympathetic look; a few even had tears in their eyes.

"I-I-I c-c-can't bear it!" she said in her whisper through her sobs. "Seeing h-h-her like that!"

"Shh, Lily," said Sirius who rubbed her back. "Everything's going to be fine." Lily gave him a tearfully glare.

"How, Sirius?" said Lily disbelieving. "How are you going to make this okay? _Tell me_!" Sirius fell quiet. Lily buried her head in her hands again.

"Rachel," she murmured. "How's that research thing going?" Rachel frowned and shoved her large glasses up her nose.

"We're getting there, Lily," she said reassuringly. "We're getting there." Lily sighed, frustrated. James cleared his throat.

"You know you could tell us anything, Lily," said James quietly. "You could vent out on us."

"I don't want to talk about it," Lily choked. They fell silent for a while and waited for Lily to open up.

Lily cried into her palms. She wouldn't let her family see her like this, all broken and temperamental. She only had a little time with her mother left. A year? A month? A month? A week? A day? A bloody second? Lily didn't know. Her mother might be dying in there already by now. With that thought, Lily went pale and her bottom lip quivered. She couldn't lose her yet, not yet. She cried and cried with her friends rubbing her back and stroking her hair comfortably. Lily gasped for breath. Her tears finally dried and she wiped her face. That's right, she had her friends with her. They've always been with her. They never left her side and in turn, Lily never left theirs. Except of course for Black and Potter, they've only been friends since a few months ago but nonetheless, they showed they were true friends. She'll have to vent.

"Mum has stage four breast cancer. The cancer's spread to her bones," Lily moaned. Her voice shook a bit as she said the word cancer. Rachel and Mary gasped. "That means that we could barely save her now."

"Don't say that, Lily," said James strongly. "You should _believe _your mum'll be saved."

"I know but face the facts! Mums cancer is very aggressive, a very rare thing for cancers," said Lily, "The only thing I could do now is stay with her at all times." Remus who had been quiet ever since, took out a Chocolate Frog from his pocket and handed one to Lily.

"Chocolate will make you feel better," he said. He smiled at Lily, and she took it. She opened the wrapper and ate the frogs head first. She took out the card and grimaced.

"Professor Dumbledore," she murmured. She smiled a little as she watched the Professor smile up at her with X-ray like blue eyes through his half-moon spectacles.

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><p><em>Dear Prof. Dumbledore,<em>

_Thank you so very much for telling Pauline Trevett from the Department of Mysteries about me. I really appreciate it._

_Yours Sincerely,  
>Lily Evans<em>

Lily read the letter and folded it up. She set it aside on her desk. She took out another piece of parchment and dipped her quill in the emerald green ink. She started writing,

_Dear Benjamin,_

_I'm sorry to say this but I am resigning from the _Daily Prophet_. _

_I have found a job in the _Ministry of Magic _and they have accepted me. I will be leaving my job straight away as I will be starting my job at the Confidential Creation of Charms and Spells Division tomorrow. Please send my things in my cubicle by Owl post._

_I'm sorry for the inconvenience._

_Yours Sincerely,  
>Lily Evans<em>

She reread it and folded it up. She picked both letters up and went over to Hermione who was sleeping soundly in her cage. Lily poked the owl. Hermione's eyes drooped open and looked up at Lily as if to say, _What now?_

"I'm sorry, Hermione but I need you to deliver these," said Lily as she let Hermione out. "Don't wait for a reply just set off after your finished delivering it, okay?" Hermione hooted and nipped Lily's finger a bit sharply. She tied the letters to her leg and let her out through the window. Lily watched as her owl disappeared from the horizon and sat back down. She glanced around her cluttered room in Surrey and waved her wand in a swooping motion.

"_Pack_!" she said. The clothes sprung up and went into the dresser in a cluttered mess. Lily didn't mind any bit as she watched the sky outside. She'll have to go back to the hospital soon so she took a bag with a few toiletries and a pair of pajamas, her wand and her Gryffindor coin and Apparated out.

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><p><strong>AN: I hope you guys like it. If you have any corrections or anything to say at all, please review. It could be either saying, "This is boring." or "What a waste of my time." or "Good." or anything negative or positive. Reviews make me want to keep on writing and I'm losing confidence a bit. **

**Thanks for reading.**

**With love,**

**Phaedra Delamire xoxo**

**P.S.: Yes, Mrs. Evans' name is Susan Stuart Evans. Stuart is her maiden name. She's named after the flower black-eyed susans. And yes, Mr. Evans' name is Tarquin. That's why the piece Rachel wrote is named **_**Susan and Tarquin **_**as a sign of thanks for the care they've given her so far. **

**Lily Evans, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Mary MacDonald, Petunia Dursley (nee Evans), Gideon Prewett, Albus Dumbledore, Ministry of Magic, Daily Prophet, Chocolate Frog © J.K. Rowling**


	8. Chapter 8: Game Plan

**CHAPTER EIGHT: Game Plan  
><strong>by: Phaedra Delamire

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><p>"Lily. Lily. Freak."<p>

"Piss off!"

"Don't use that word, Lily, doesn't that mean your drunk?"

"Just shut up,"

"Bitch, do you want to be late for work?"

"I know, I know, bitch."

"Girls, I'm warning you."

"I'm getting up! I'm getting up!" Lily took the blanket off and jumped off the sofa. Her neck was stiff and so was her back from the night she spent on the couch. "Good Merlin, my back!" Petunia smirked. Lily glared at her. Mr. Evans was sitting on the hospital bed beside Mrs. Evans who was smiling weakly at them.

"Morning, familia," said Lily happily, trying to lighten the mood. Mrs. Evans chuckled. Mr. Evans watched his daughter carefully.

"Lily where did you learn that word?" said Mr. Evans. Lily poured herself a cup of coffee from the tray on the table at the corner of the room. Lily sipped at it before answering.

"What, _piss_?" said Lily, almost blushing. Mr. Evans nodded. "Dad, it means go away not go get drunk, don't worry."

"Okay, okay," said Mr. Evans letting it drop. Lily sat beside her mother and smiled.

"How're you doing, mum?" said Lily. Petunia was reading a magazine at the sofa.

"I'm fine, Lily," croaked Mrs. Evans. Lily almost cried again but instead smiled at her.

"Sure you are," said Lily. She took her hand. "You're going to get through this, mum. Rachel said a Healer at St. Mungo's is researching on how to heal cancer. Rachel reckons that once they teach it to the other Healers, she'll be able to do it to you."

"That's wonderful," said Mrs. Evans. She smiled at her favorite daughter. "Now, go off to work, Lily. I don't want you to be late on your first day!"

"Okay, mum, I'll just go home and change and go to work," said Lily, she pecked her mother's cheek and pecked his father's too. She grabbed the bag where kept her toiletries and raised her wand. "See you later, familia." Lily grinned as she turned on the spot and disappeared.

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><p>Lily hurried into the Department of Mysteries and to her relief the walls didn't rotate. She took out her wand from her robes.<p>

"_Deiti Driadomus_," Lily muttered. The doors became transparent and shown what was inside. She moved towards the one with the familiar violet walls and opened the door.

Everyone was working and Bilius Weasley was in the Experimentation Room. He had ginger hair and looked a bit old. Pauline greeted her from her desk and Lily waved. She walked toward her cubicle and passed by Augustus Rookwood who looked hard at work, Gideon Prewett who looked like he was writing on a piece of parchment, Georgina Gardiner who was checking her blonde flirty bob in the mirror, Emmeline Vance who was reading a large leather bound book and occasionally writing notes, and Fenny Seymour who was busy tapping on her typewriter. Lily smiled as she sat on her chair.

By the end of the week, she had learnt the principles in charm experimentation and creation. Being in the Confidential Creation of Charms and Spells Division was a great deal more fun than in the _Daily Prophet_; one reason for that were the experiments that usually happened and her other co-workers. Lily continually winced when she watched her co-workers fly across the room while she was making notes, especially if it was Bilius who did it so often it scared Lily.

Lily Apparated home on Friday evening and collapsed onto the sofa. She had experimented on a combat spell she had a theory on and it went badly. She had a headache and a nosebleed for hours.

"Lily?"

"Yeah, dad?" Lily answered, closing her eyes. Mr. Evans walked into the sitting room and sat down beside his daughter.

"What's wrong?" said Mr. Evans worriedly. Lily sighed.

"Something went wrong with my experiment," said Lily. "But I'm fine now. It's just a little headache."

"Oh," said Mr. Evans. They sat silently. Lily looked up.

"Who's with mum?"

"Petunia," said Mr. Evans. Lily nodded and got up.

"I'll just take a nap at my room, dad," said Lily quietly and she trudged out and up the steps. She closed her door.

She was so tired. Pauline guessed it was the side effects of the spell and it was perfectly normal to feel like that. Lily paled at that. She didn't want to be tired all the time.

"Merlin!" Lily muttered. She stood up and saw a _Daily Mail _on her desk. She took it and lay down on her bed while reading. Lily paled.

Lily gasped. All her tiredness gone, she sprang up and took her Gryffindor coin from her bag.

"Monkey Slut," she said. The coin brightened and Lily pressed the lion. "Rachel Morrigan." An image in her mind like a map shown where Rachel was. Lily Apparated out.

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><p>"Rachel!" Lily gasped. Rachel bustled out of her and Sirius' bedroom with Sirius himself in tow. Her bronze hair was fixed in a flirty bob, and she wasn't wearing her glasses. She was wearing a white button down shirt and the first two buttons were open. She was wearing shorts too. Sirius' hair was disheveled and he kind of looked annoyed by Lily's unexpected visit. Lily blushed; she had come at a wrong time.<p>

Rachel squinted with her deep violet eyes.

"Sirius, where's my glasses?" said Rachel. Sirius grinned.

"You're as bad as James," and headed into their room.

"It's me, Rachel," said Lily. Rachel staggered forward, her hands outstretched. Lily grabbed her hand and led her to the sofa. Rachel sighed as they sat down.

"Why is my eyesight so _bad_?" She said in a frustrated tone. She sighed and tried to calm herself. "Why're you here, Lily?"

"I'll tell you when Sirius is here," said Lily.

"Where's my glasses, sweetheart?" Rachel called.

"I can't find it!" Sirius called back. Soft thuds were heard from the room which indicated either he was throwing pillows aside _or _he was making the sounds so they'll think he was really looking for it.

"Merlin, where did you chuck my glasses, Sirius!" Rachel called, her voice rising in a panicky tone. "You know I can't live without it."

"Sirius, are you a wizard or not?" Lily called. Sirius grunted.

"Ow! Merlin!" Sirius walked out, rubbing his right eye and Rachel's large glasses in his left hand. He handed Rachel her glasses and she put it on immediately. Sirius grunted.

"I summoned it with my wand and it poked my eye!" he complained. Rachel laughed heartily.

"The exact same thing happened to me when I turned seventeen," she laughed, "I never tried to summon it again."

"You'll have to kiss me to make it up to me!" Sirius demanded. Rachel only slapped him on the arm.

"Lily, you look pale," Rachel observed. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, just an experiment gone wrong," said Lily hastily as she hand them the _Daily Prophet _article. Rachel's eyes grew wide.

"Bloody hell," she murmured.

"He's terrorizing the whole of bloody Europe!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Yes, yes, but I wanted to ask something," said Lily, "Why is this happening?"

"I don't know about that. My mum was Muggleborn and my dad was a half-blood," said Rachel. Sirius was quiet for a while.

"Muggle disappearances," Sirius muttered. "Look at the number of these. Dear old Mum would be so happy if she got wind of this."

"What do you mean Sirius?" said Lily. Sirius grimaced.

"Muggle baiting in a large scale," he muttered darkly. "I can see here that Grindelwald's done it in France too. It's his strategy, his game plan. Now that not most people believe you and James, he'll savor in the careless Ministry and bait as many Muggles as he could."

"I have to tell Pauline about this," Lily muttered, "She's Head of our department. She'll believe me." Sirius shook his head.

"They still wouldn't believe, no matter what you do,"

"But I have to do _something_!" Lily squeaked.

"We'll just have to wait for the Ministry to believe," Sirius concluded. Lily sighed.

Frustration washed through her as she took in what Sirius said. She couldn't just watch around in the sidelines as Grindelwald did all _this_! What if it was her dad next? What if it was – Merlin, help me, Lily thought – Petunia? She had to act, but _how_? She racked her mind for ideas but found none. All she came up with was work double time on the combat spell she was developing so there'll be more spells around.

"Thanks for the advice," said Lily. She looked out the window and realized it was already night time. She stood up. "I have to go."

"What? Won't you stay for dinner at least?" Rachel asked hurriedly. Lily shook her head.

"I need to go to mum," said Lily. Rachel's eyes brightened.

"Could we come?" she said. Sirius fidgeted with a long strand of his hair.

"Sure if you'd like to," Lily smiled. Rachel stood up.

"We're going to get dressed," said Rachel, grabbing Sirius' arm. "Wait there." They ran off. Lily slumped down and closed her eyes. She hadn't even had time to brood when they burst out their door. Lily jumped on her seat.

"That was quick," said Lily, impressed. Sirius grinned mischievously and twirled his wand in between his fingers.

"Transfiguration expert in your presence, Lily," he said mischievously. Lily rolled his eyes and they Apparated out.

**A/N: Just a filler chapter mostly but I'm not really sure what you think. It also reveals game plans and all that jazz. **

**By the way, the Daily Mail is a real newspaper. All rights belong to them.**

**Please review guys.. I won't be updating if I get no reviews. I know I'm being cruel much but I'm really losing my confidence here.**

**-Phaedra Delamire**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for a few OC's. The rest are J.K.'s.**

**P.S.: You won't be hearing from so much coz I'm locking myself in my sock drawer and joining Ron Weasley in his depression. (AVPM reference)**


	9. Chapter 9: Uncertain Thoughts

**A/N: Hey, guys! I talked to myself last night and I have come to the conclusion that I don't care if I don't have reviews. Writing fan fiction is my hobby and I won't stop it just because of some silly thing.**

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><p><strong>DISCLAIMERS: I do not own anything except for some OC's. The rest are J.K.'s.<strong>

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><p><strong>CHAPTER NINE: Uncertain Thoughts and Impulses<br>**by: Phaedra Delamire

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><p>The next three months passed by in routine. Lily woke up in the morning because of an annoying Petunia, eat breakfast, went off to work, eat lunch, work hard, go home, eat dinner, go to the hospital, and crash on the sofa.<p>

Lily was in the Evans house today, preparing for Christmas in secrecy. She brought up a Christmas tree in the living room with a wave of her wand and levitated Christmas baubles onto the tree. Mr. Evans was with his wife at the hospital and Petunia was with Vernon Dursley having a date so Lily took the liberty to do it all. She levitated Christmas stockings on top of the fireplace and a few more decorations on the walls of the house. She summoned fairy lights around the rooms to give the whole place a little bit of color. Lily went back to the living room where the Christmas tree stood, and realized with a jolt, she hadn't bought Christmas presents yet. She bounded up the stairs, took her pouch bag, and Apparated off.

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><p>Lily stumbled into the living room with carrier bags on her shoulder and a stack of parcels in her hands. She just came back from Christmas shopping and she was all alone in the Evans house. She walked up the steps careful as she balanced the stack in her hands and the weight on her shoulders. She turned the knob of her bedroom door with her thumb and her index finger and hurried in. Before she dumped the things on her bed, she kicked the door closed.<p>

Lily sighed in relief. She walked around streets so much her feet hurt. First she walked around Diagon Alley, next was Hogsmeade, then finally the whole London which was the most tiresome of all just trying to windows shop for gifts. Of course she had stumbled a few times over the weight of the things and a few people kept ogling at her carrier bags from Diagon Alley it was scary. But to Lily's relief, it looked just like normal carrier bags from Tiffany.

She started wrapping them and had a few paper cuts from the wrappers. She didn't know how to wrap things of course, and it was always Mrs. Evans or – Merlin, help me, Lily thought – _Santa Claus _and his _elves _did all the wrapping. After the fifth cut, Lily groaned in frustration.

"Am I a witch or not?" she told herself. She threw the scissors down and took her wand out from her back pocket.

"_Mobilis,_" she murmured. The wrappers, scissors, and Spellotape went to work. Lily sat down at the foot of her bed, watching it cut, wrap, and seal the gifts. She wouldn't leave alone. What would happen if the scissors cut that music book Lily bought for Rachel? Or worse, her bed sheets? But of course, she was a witch and could easily cast a Repair Charm on it but she'd rather not take any risks.

After a few minutes, everything was wrapped and a card was Spellotaped to each. With a quick _Mobiliarbus _spell, she levitated all down the steps and under the Christmas tree. It was two weeks before Christmas and Grandma Evans would say she was _very _behind on Christmas shopping even if it was July.

Lily walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. She took out her lemon juice (ah, lemon juice) and poured it into a glass. She raised it to her lips and checked her violet wristwatch. She almost gagged on her juice. She was five minutes late for her meet-up with the rest of the Gryffindors in the Leaky Cauldron.

She tapped the glass with her wand and it was squeaky clean. She shoved the juice back into the fridge and bounded up the steps. Her hair was a mess. She had to run her comb in it a hundred times before she got frustrated and waved her wand at it. She threw on a dark pale blue top, a beige cashmere jumper (**A/N: To stop the confusion, a jumper is British English for sweater which is American English)**, trousers, a beige cloak and boots. She put on green gloves and her signature beret and jammed a few coins into her small violet pouch bag. She raised her wand and made a small pirouette and Apparated out.

She arrived outside the Leaky Cauldron, snow covering the streets. Her breathe came out in mist as she opened the door to the pub. Alice, Frank, Marlene, Mary, Sirius, Remus, and James were there, laughing and joking a bit. She moved toward them hurriedly and collapsed into the only empty chair which was in between James and Sirius.

"Sorry I'm late," she breathed. Alice passed her a butterbeer. "Thanks… I had to do Christmas shopping and decorate the whole house."

"Aren't you leaving your Christmas shopping a little bit late?" said Sirius over his glass of what looked like Bob Ogden's Old Firewhiskey. "I did mine in September." Lily laughed.

"You're just like my grandma," she said happily. "She used to buy us Christmas presents in July."

"I did mine yesterday," said Mary.

"I did mine a week ago with Robbie," said Marlene.

"I made Clemy do mine," said James with a smug smile. All of them rolled their eyes. Clemy or Clementine was James' mischievous, Auror, older sister. She was just a year older James and looked very much like him except with dark chocolate brown hair and pale blue eyes.

"You're cruel," said Remus. James shrugged.

"She loves spoiling me," he answered. Remus hit him at the back of his head but said nothing.

"Remus where's Maggie?" said Lily. "I thought we said that to bring your significant others with you." Remus sighed.

"She's at Liverpool doing research for cancer healing spells," said Remus sadly. Lily understood. Maggie was the only thing that made Remus forget his unfortunateness. Lily turned to glare at Sirius. "And where's Rachel?"

"She's at St. Mungo's," said Sirius. "There's been an attack at Manchester and the Aurors were badly injured. She's working overtime." Marlene turned to Frank and Alice.

"Weren't you there?" said Marlene. They shook their heads.

"We weren't in the office when they had the emergency call," said Frank. Marlene nodded.

"So, how's the wedding?" said Lily. "Aren't you excited? It's a few weeks from now!" Alice looked like she was panicking.

"Well, I'm a bit nervous actually," said Alice, "Mrs. Longbottom's really a… spirited woman and mum and her are trying to take hold of the wedding." Frank smiled at her sympathetically and wrapped his arm around her.

"Don't worry, Alice," said Sirius, "It's _your _wedding, not theirs. At least the music'll be great since it's Rachel who'll be doing it." He laughed.

"Prat," Lily muttered. "Did you choose the bridesmaids dress for us yet?" Alice's eyes grew wide.

"What?" she yelped. "I thought you're Maid of Honor?"

"Of course I am," said Lily, "But you never told us about the dresses yet!" Alice looked like she was going to pull her hair out.

"Arrgh!" she groaned. "I was too preoccupied in the flower arrangements that I completely forgot!" Everyone jumped when her bottle of butterbeer exploded. The pub fell silent. Lily gulped.

"Alice, Alice," she tried to calm her down. "It's okay. No need to stress. Mary, Marlene, Rachel, Maggie and I will look at bridesmaid dresses tomorrow." She waved her wand at the bottle and it repaired itself. She leaned across the table and patted Alice's shoulder. Marlene looked behind her shoulder at the whole pub.

"What're you staring at?" she called, sending them a small glare. Everyone went back to their own businesses and started muttering. Sirius laughed.

"You shouldn't have glared at them, Marlene. Now they'll think we're planning to join Grindelwald!" he laughed. Marlene sent him a grimace and patted Alice's shoulder. Alice started twitching. Lily turned to her small violet pouch bag and groped around it. She took out a large vial of pale blue liquid and took an extra bottle of butterbeer. She put a small drop of it into the brown drink and handed it to Alice.

"Drink that," she ordered. "I put a drop of Draught of Peace into that." Alice muttered her thanks and took the bottle. She raised it in the air.

"To everyone's good health," she murmured and drank it. At once, her face lit up and she had a dazed expression. "That's better! Thanks."

"No problem," said Lily. They started talking about more trivial things like Grindelwald and each of their opinions on Professor Dumbledore if he really is that crazy. After a few more minutes, James and Sirius had convinced everyone to drink Firewhiskey and by eleven o' clock, most of them were already drunk.

Lily was red in the face and quiet while the Marauders were laughing and quite boisterous. Alice and Frank were snogging each other while Mary and Marlene were talking to the Marauders.

"J-James don't have a girlfriend yet," Sirius teased. "An-And I always thought I'm the one who'll stay the bachelor!" They laughed. James was grimacing.

"Shut it, you!" James slurred. Mary laughed in her I'm-drunk-oh-yeah laugh.

"I never thought James Potter is gay," said Mary. James looked appalled.

"I am not gay!" he exclaimed. He took another swig of Firewhiskey. "It doesn't mean I have no girlfriend that I'm gay."

"Prove it, Prongs!" said Remus who looked like he wasn't as drunk as Sirius and James.

James was quiet for a while. Lily was still quiet and was watching the contents of her Firewhiskey glass swirl. James ran his eyes along Lily's dark red hair down unto her back. He watched Lily's green eyes twinkle and blinking slowly as she watched the Firewhiskey glass. James acted out of impulse and the teenage Hogwarts student part of him and leaned down. James pulled Lily towards him.

"James what are you-" but James cut her off with his lips. Lily turned so red that it contested with her hair. She could smell the mint of James' shampoo.

The voice at the back of Lily's head started talking, _Oh my God! It's a dream come true!_

_No, it isn't! _Lily answered back.

_Yes, it is! _The voice whined._ You've been dreaming about him for nights!_

_Shut up! This'll be bad for publicity. Girls will start sending me cursed letters like they did at Hogwarts._

_Don't care about that! _

_No, both of us are completely professional people, I will handle this in a professional way. _

_I could tell you're having fun._

The rest of the Gryffindors were oblivious to Lily's warring head as they cheered. She closed her eyes momentarily, savoring the kiss, until she was brought to reality. She pushed him back and stood up. James looked up at her with a confused expression.

"I'm sorry," Lily whispered. "You're drunk. You can't think straight. I have to go." She picked up her bag and sped off, trying to ignore the stares and James' calls.

"Lily!" James called. Lily pushed open the pub door and went out into the cold bitter winter's night. She ran up the pavement, wiping away the confused tears as she ran. Suddenly, someone grabbed her elbow and spun her around.

"Lily, please, just hear me out," said James. Lily tugged at her elbow but James' grip was too strong.

"Fine. What do you want?" said Lily, looking down, not wanting to meet bright hazel eyes.

"Lily, why do you hate me so much?" James asked. Not meaning to, Lily looked up. She raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"I don't hate you," she said, "I'm just confused."

"About what?" said James quietly.

"About you!" said Lily loudly, gesturing to him. "You who has always been terrorizing my everyday life at Hogwarts. You that is so perfect. You that I can't wrap my mind around. James, I barely even know you. Yes, I've known you for seven years but we spent those seven years hating each other. We can't just be friends then _hook up _immediately."

"But… I didn't hate you," said James so quietly Lily barely caught it.

"Pardon?"

"I didn't hate you," said James more loudly. "I never did. I always liked you but I always acted like an idiot around you." Lily was speechless. She tugged at her elbow again but this time, James let her go. "I'll wait, Lily. Even if it'll take a thousand years for you, I'll wait."

Lily shook her head since she thought of nothing else to do. "I'm sorry, James," she whispered. She spun around and disappeared, leaving James heartbroken in the middle of cold dark night.

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><p><strong>AN: Tada! The main storyline has now been revealed! I hope you guys liked this chapter. **

**A special thanks to AquaCrystal2756, GoodBug, and Superficialowl for bringing me out of my sock drawer. **

**Hope you'll review guys. You still get to have a treacle tart, an oreo, a muffin, or a butterbeer if you do.**

**With love,  
>Phaedra Delamire xoxo<strong>

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><p><strong>Lily Evans, James Potter, Mary MacDonald, Marlene McKinnon, Alice, Frank Longbottom, Sirius Black, Leaky Cauldron, butterbeer, Bob Ogden's Old Firewhiskey, spells © J.K. Rowling<strong>


	10. Chapter 10: Christmas Depression

**A/N: This chapter will be the last chapter where we follow Lily. The next chapters, we'll be following James around.**

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><p><strong>DISCLAIMERS: I do not own anything except a few OC's. The rest are J.K.'s.<strong>

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><p><strong>CHAPTER TEN: Christmas Depression<br>**by: Phaedra Delamire

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><p>Lily sat in the living room, pretty much alone. She liked that. She wanted to be alone for the whole week. It was nearing twelve midnight in Christmas Eve and Lily was sitting there, carrying a glass of pumpkin juice and her cat Momo hunched up on her lap.<p>

Lily knew she should be at the hospital with her parents but she was confused. She was holding a silver photo frame with a black and white picture of herself and James donning their Heads badge and practically bickering at the eve of the Graduation. The image-Lily was waving up at real-life-Lily furiously while the image-James was trying to enchant image-Lily's Head Girl badge. Lily watched the affection in James' eyes as his eyes fell on image-Lily, and she wondered if this reflected the real James.

She watched the image of James sadly. Was she in love? Did she love him? Lily didn't know as she watched tears splatter on the glass.

"I know I'm supposed to be worrying about mum," Lily told the picture even if it didn't hear anything, "I know I'm supposed to be at the hospital right now but I'm confused. I swear, I don't love you. But, just after that kiss, I feel so… weird. I know I am overreacting. And I know if anyone would see me right now, they'd think I'm crazy but I'm confused."

Lily looked down at her cat that was snoozing on her lap. She picked her up and set her down in the basket in front of the fireplace which had a crackling fire. Lily turned to the kitchen; she was feeling a bit hungry. She summoned a bowl, a spoon, a milk carton, and a box of cereal. She sat down and poured the cereal and milk into her bowl. She started spooning them slowly into her mouth.

She's been acting like that ever since that night. Like a zombie. Mrs. Evans didn't notice any of this, Lily made sure of that. She was already sick; she didn't need any more things to worry about. Pauline Trevett had noticed. Lily was always preoccupied in work hours and she resorted to continually spending time in the Experimentation Room, looking like she was trying to kill herself by how many times she tried to experiment. At that thought, Lily shivered.

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><p>(flashback)<p>

_Lily was inside the Experimentation Room, very much alone and continually casting the spell she was working on with various wands at the dummy. Her nose was bleeding and her head felt like it was about to burst. She ignored all of this of course. She was too preoccupied in other things. She only stopped shooting the spell when Pauline went in. _

_"Hullo, Pauline," said Lily in a deadpan tone which was how she talked these days. Pauline smiled._

_"Hello, Lily," _

_"What are you doing here?" asked Lily. _

_"I've noticed you're rather… preoccupied this week," said Pauline. "What's wrong?"_

_"It's nothing, Pauline,"_

_"Oh," said Pauline. Something in Lily's tone told her to leave her alone. "Okay." She left, leaving Lily still in her confused state._

_"_Vindictavia," _Lily shot the spell at the dummy._

(end of flashback)

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><p>Lily looked down to her bowl, it was empty already. She sighed and went back to the living room. She sat back on the sofa and continued staring at the picture. After a few minutes, the grandfather clock at the side of the living room chimed the hour of twelve o' clock. Lily stared at the Christmas tree sadly then turned to the picture.<p>

"Happy Christmas, Lily," she whispered. She stood up and Apparated into her room. She set the photo frame down on her bedside table and Apparated back into the living room. She placed all the gifts of her friends in a sack and Transfigured her outfit to have red and white colors. She Apparated to Rachel and Sirius' flat and placed the two gifts on the coffee table with a flourish and Disapparated.

Next was Remus and Maggie, she was surprised to see a little Christmas tree in the living room and placed the gifts underneath it. She twirled and arrived in Marlene's house; she hurried into the living room and placed the gifts along with the other ones under the tree and Disapparated again. Lily arrived inside the MacDonald household and smiled as she remembered the numerous Easter holidays she spent there. She placed the gift under the tree again and Apparated out. She arrived inside the Longbottom living room, where Alice and Frank were staying. Lily placed the presents under the tree hurriedly before Apparating out.

Lily gulped. She arrived outside the Potter household. It was a simple house with a wrought iron gate and flowers in the front lawn. The house was made of grey stone and the roof was made of red tiles. Lily chose not to Apparate inside, it would be too much for her. So she merely walked through the gate, and placed the present on the door mat.

"Happy Christmas, Potter," Lily whispered and pointed her wand at the sack before saying "_Evanesco_". Little did she know, someone was running down the steps hurriedly, trying to catch her before she goes away. The persons hand touched the door handle and opened the door to only glimpse a woman with dark red hair and pearly white skin, glowing in the moonlight before she disappeared into thin air.

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><p><strong>AN: I know this is short but this is the chapter where we meet zombie depressed Lily. The next chapter will be all James. This is the end of Part 1 of Nothing. Next will be Part 2.**

**Tell me what you think guys. Review! You get a treacle tart, an oreo, a muffin, or a butterbeer if you do.**

**With love,  
>Phaedra Delamire<strong>

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><p><strong>Lily Evans, James Potter, Marlene McKinnon, Mary MacDonald, Sirius Black, Alice and Frank Longbottom, Head Girl and Boy badge, spells © J.K. Rowling<strong>

**Vindictavia © mine**

**Vindictavia - Latin _vindicta _means revenge**


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